Heads Up Versus Heads down

Life
as a teenager is hard. There is so much pressure put on every high
school student to impress their peers, family, teachers, and other
parents as well. It is common for teens to not want to let their
parents down, but it is also common for them to slip up and make
mistakes as well. I feel like kids wouldn’t want to tell their
parents that they messed up by drinking so instead they try to drive
themselves home instead of asking for a ride from their parents. Kids
are so afraid of the consequences and disappointment from their
parents that I think that they can forget that the biggest
consequence of all can come while drinking and driving. This is why I
think kids struggle with asking for help. It’s not that they ever
wanted to drink and drive in the first place, it’s that they are so
afraid of disappointing their parents or other peers if they don’t
get home on time or never make it home. 

One
way that I would help raise awareness for teenagers is to create more
intense workshops at school about the dangers of drinking and
driving. At my high school, drinking and driving is a topic that is
merely skimmed over in our health class. We spend the majority of our
time talking about maintaining good physical health and getting
instruction on the dangers of premarital sex. I would start a program
in each highschool’s health class to share with kids the same
amount of dangers that come with drinking and driving. Another place
where I feel like instructors could really lean in on drinking and
driving would be in the Drivers Ed classes themselves.  I
remember in my Drivers Ed class, we barely even touched on drinking
and driving. I believe that there should be a shocking video of some
sort or some kind of instruction based solely on the dangers of
drinking and driving. 

One
way that I feel like would really  help raise awareness for teen
drinking and driving is to build programs at school that can help
educate parents and children together. That way, the parents also see
how dangerous this is and can be more open about drinking and driving
with their teens. I feel like programs such as these should educate
parents on the correct response to when their child calls them and
needs a ride home. These programs should educate parents on how to be
calm in the situation and not make the child feel like they are
putting any extra stress on the parents for picking them up. A lot of
teens don’t call their parents for a ride because they are too
worried about the consequences and disappointment that they may
receive from their parents. Parents must be educated on how to
reassure their children that they would rather them home safe and
alive then drinking and driving.

Another
way that would help make teens feel like they didn’t have to drink
in the first place is to put on more fun events in the community. My
town puts on a farmers market one night every month, and I wish our
town put on more events such as those for my friends and I to attend.
I would try to implement more fun activities such as market nights,
movie nights and arts and crafts activities that could be better
alternatives to partying on weekend nights. With better alternatives
and more comprehensive education, teens would think twice before
driving a car drunk.