Adolescent Drinking and Driving

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Driving under the influence is a serious issue, which affects not only the driver but also puts other vehicles and their passengers at risk. Aside from the fact that consuming alcohol for teens is illegal in the first place, moreover deciding to drive while impaired puts them in four times bigger risk of getting into the car accident than adults (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia). Alcohol seems tempting for adolescents, and it is no secret that most teenagers consume alcohol while in high school; thus, some neglect being responsible and end up driving cars when drunk.

According to the statistics, the leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States is motor vehicle crashes, with one in three deaths caused by impaired driving (Hafner et al.). Therefore, because of such high rates of fatal accidents, there is a vital need to find a way to decrease the number of car crashes involving drunk teenagers. In this proposal, I would like to reach out to the local school principal with an offer to conduct a unique program that should influence teenagers regarding the topic of adolescent driving under the influence (DUI).

Such devastating statistics about deadly vehicle crashes that involve drunk teenagers’ urges to serious actions for prevention of adolescents from sitting behind the wheel while under the influence. In 2016, 2,433 Americans died from getting into a car accident in 2016; among them, a quarter of the fatal incidents occurred because of driving under the influence (Hafner, et al.). A school is a place where teenagers spend most of their time during the weekdays, where it is easy to influence them. I encourage the principle to join the initiative with a goal to prevent teenage DUI as much as possible because it is an important issue that has to be addressed. With creative and innovative methods, it is possible to influence the high schoolers and show them the correct models of behavior.

Various methods are used for the prevention of teenage drunk driving; they vary from strict administrative laws to psychological influence. In the article by Perri Klass, it is stated that adopting more restriction policies for DUI overall is generally associated with less fatal incidents (Klass). Undeniably, that restrictive policies must exist, and violating them must have an according punishment; however, it is not that simple.

Such policies must be individual to not only each state but also every town due to their specific characteristic: like lengthy highways, amount of vehicles, etc. Adding a single policy to the regulation would not change the overall situation drastically; it may decrease a small percentage of the accidents, and thus, will not show a significant result in the general picture. Klass said, “It’s really the collection of them all that seems to be effective”. Therefore, creating more restriction policies is individual to every town and would not make a significant impact on the problem as a whole.

One more proposed solution to the problem of teenage drinking and driving is stricter parent control. Yale University’s article states that strong parenting can act as a great form of prevention and may be able to eliminate the problem at its beginning (Belli). The writer says that protective parenthood and stricter teenage control can be useful even after a few years when children leave for college. No doubt, that good parenting, in most cases, has a good influence on children, but in the position of total control, it can bring more harm than good behavior.

One more reason for its ineffectiveness is each parent has his or her own methods of upbringing, which has a significant influence too. Therefore, such a way of fighting teenage drunk driving has many nuances; thus, we cannot talk about its universal effectiveness for all teenagers.

One more suggested solution is having much stricter policies referring to selling alcohol. The author of the referenced article, Katherine Du, believes that creating new policies, which are aimed at the more general audience, would have more influence than targeting only the teenage population. Du suggests limiting hours when alcohol can be sold, raising taxes for alcohol, and even eliminating some stores that sell alcohol.

The author and the pediatrician she interviewed say that because of the age, the adolescents become a sensitive group when it comes to the price, therefore, raising the bar on alcohol sells should reduce the consumption of alcohol among teenagers, which consequently will reduce drinking and driving car accidents among them (Du). Undoubtedly, the adoption of such policies would have an impact on teenagers and their choice when it comes to buying alcohol; however, it may not work that way. Looking from the perspective of being a teenager, after adopting such policies, adolescents would still find a way to buy alcohol; however, it might be a worse version of it, which could influence the organism in a harmful way. Moreover, in theory, such a method might even raise the probability of a drunk teenager to sit behind the wheel.

The solution, which would work the best, in my opinion, must be based on influencing the mindset of teenagers. Visualization is always a great way to show and make people feel certain emotions. That is why mock crashes held in schools have shown higher effectiveness than any other suggested method of fighting teenage drinking and driving. The majority of simulated crashes events target teenagers and seek a goal of raising awareness concerning fatal drinking and driving. Such re-enactments show student’s actual staged car accidents involving the police and ambulance who show the victims and their death right in front of the students. After the act high schoolers face a serious talk where the effect of fatal DUI on the close people is explained.

In Houston, a program called “Shattered Dreams” that focuses explicitly on organizing such 2-days events exists. After their first mock crash in one of the high schools, students were stunt and not only were genuinely influenced by it.

Teenagers wrote numerous thank-you letters to the hospital, saying that this re-enactment changed their mindset about drinking and driving (Bare and Garza). In the state of Illinois, a similar mock-crash program was conducted by the Red Cross organization, which was called “Operation Prom Night.” Logically the program took place around prom season for high schoolers, which main goal was to promote alcohol abstinence and safe behavior during this time and after-prom (Hafner, et al.). Such an event became an every-year activity.

It is a community-sponsored with the help of grants from the Illinois Department of Transportation, so it does not require any budgeting directly from the school. After the event, “students were 1.39 times (95%) less likely to report drinking and driving or get into a car with someone a drunk person. In addition, they reported they were 1.7 times more likely (95%) to often think of the risks associated with drinking and driving” (Hafner, et al., 86). Such a method of raising awareness about teenage DUI would be the most effective and could be implemented with the help of the town and the community; therefore, all that is needed from a principal is his/her approval and an active participation in it.

Though, contradicting audience might have arguments that such crashes require too much effort, time, people’s input, and money, it is possible to refute. Participation for the program is voluntary, and by doing so, for example, the police department will increase the rate of social responsibility and show that it supports community projects. Moreover, the crash re-enactment program should be funded by the community and the city; such initiatives must be recognized as essential for teenagers because they show tremendous success, as stated above.

Concluding, the adolescent DUI problem is not one to avoid, as 1 in 4 teenage fatal vehicle crashes occur with a drunk driver. There are many possible methods of fighting with it; however, physiologically influencing teenagers shows the most effectiveness. Crash re-enactment programs visually show high schoolers the tragic consequences of impaired driving, which affects their mindset. Local governments, as well as health and police departments must support such an initiative. I urge the principal to review this proposal and implement it in the school, as it can help save the lives of adolescents.

Works Cited

Bare, Katherine, and Robin Garza. “Shattered Dreams: A County Hospital’s Commitment to Preventing Teenage Drinking and Driving.” Journal of Emergency Nursing, vol. 45, no. 5, 2019, pp. 579–581. Web.

Belli, Brita. “Yale-Led Team Finds Parents Can Curb Teen Drinking and Driving.” YaleNews. 2020. Web.

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Teen Dui Statistics and Impaired Driving.” Teen Driver Source. Web.

Du, Katherine. “Tighter Alcohol Curbs For All Help Reduce Teen Motor Vehicle Deaths.” NPR. 2016. Web.

Hafner, John W., et al. “The Effect of a Community Crash Reenactment Program on Teen Alcohol Awareness and Behavior.” Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, vol. 10, 2019, pp. 83–90. Web.

Klass, Perri. “When Teenagers Drink, Avoiding the Risks From Driving.” The New York Times. 2017. Web.

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Adolescent Drinking and Driving

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