Planning Program: Decreasing Cases of DWI Among Teenagers

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Intervention and community needs
Goals and Objectives Worksheet
Role of government in success plan
Conclusion
References

Introduction

An evaluation of the data in N516 reveals an underlying drunk driving problem in Albuquerque. Furthermore, the data reveals that teenagers play a big role in exacerbation of DWI of offenses in Albuquerque. In the DWI report that driving people develop driving habits and etiquette from a young age, it’s prudent that teenagers especially those that seeking their driving licenses be taken through some mandatory driving program. This will ensure teenagers and young people internalize good driving habits which in the long-term will prove beneficial to efforts against drunk driving. In that regard, it’s imperative if authorities will consider early intervention requiring freshmen in high school students to have mandatory classes on drinking and driving. Through these mandatory classes will ensure every student has exposure to some education concerning DWI which in the long run will ensure a reversal of the DWI offenses trends.

Intervention and community needs

The proposed intervention requiring mandatory classes for high school freshmen is in line with community needs identified in the N516 report. According to the report, age comes out as one of the factors that play an important role in DWI trends. The report quotes Victoria of MADD who approximates the number of people under 21 years in the US who die in DWI related accidents to be 30,000. According to Victoria, more than half the deaths that involve teenagers involve crashes solely caused by drunk driving. A rough estimate from the above information reveals that teenagers account for nearly 17% of all car related accidents in the US. The same report also cites teenagers as the most affected group in DWI cases after males. Sternheimer (2006, p. 121) also agrees with the above assertion. The N516 report in its nursing intervention section cites teenagers as the most vulnerable group that can easily succumb to the effects of DWI in Albuquerque community.

Further to the above statistics, the Century Council paints a grim picture on the DWI situation among the youth in New Mexico. The problem of alcohol among teenagers is quite prevalent in the state of New Mexico and by extension Albuquerque. A study by Century Council covering years 2000-2009 concerning alcohol consumption among teenagers, indicate that 25% of all 12-20 years olds had consumed alcohol the past month (Century Council, 2010). A further 17% had engaged in binge drinking in the past month. Figure from police also indicated a lingering problem among the state’s youth concerning alcohol consumption. The police reports indicate that there were a total of 131 arrests of people under the age of 18 driving under the influence compared to a total of 11,000 for all ages. Additionally, there had been 597 arrests among teenagers relating to breakage of liquor laws compared to a total of 4488 for all ages. Those that are under 18 For instance, the organization cites 114 alcohol related fatalities in New Mexico in 2009. Of all these, 28 victims were people under the age of 21 making it 4.7% compared to 5.7% for all ages. People under the age of 18 who got arrested for drunkenness numbered 21 compared to total of 778 for all ages.

It is important to note that some of statistics given above tough on the national populace. It is therefore prudent to bear in mind that it’s the similarities drawn from generalization that inform conclusions made about young people in New Mexico and Albuquerque.

A simple and straight forward hypothesis from the above information is that there is a real problem concerning alcohol consumption and DWI among teenagers (Gerdes, 2004, p. 59). It is therefore only in order to put in place an intervention that will benefit the youth and ensure there are minimal DWI cases involving the youth especially teenagers.

Goals and Objectives Worksheet

Goals	Objectives
To ensure every teenager high school freshman goes through the mandatory drunk driving classes. This is to chiefly ensure that students and young drivers are well equipped and prepared to help deal with DWI in the city and the state.	Ensure a majority; roughly 80% of students in public and private schools attend mandatory classes on drunk driving in one year’s time. Have a uniform curriculum in a year’s on DWI education that will guide DWI education among high school freshmen.
To push for passage of a legislation requiring attendance to the classes by the target group and an extension of the program to accommodate other groups. Passage of such a law will make it easy for implementation of such a directive in restricted situations such as private schools.	Successfully petition the state legislature and the city council to pass the law in less than a year. The will make it easier for interested groups and parties to implement the initiative.
To increase knowledge in DWI among freshmen high school students by at least 70%	Ensure every high school freshman has access to information and materials concerning DWI immediately the program starts. To push for an adoption of an equivalent of a uniform exam testing for level of understanding of DWI among the target group.
To reduce by 70% the number of DWI cases involving teenagers	To carefully monitor progress of teenage drivers in the city especially high school freshmen through police reports, six months after implementation of the program.
To reduce the number of teenagers sharing a vehicle with a person under the influence.	To propose an immediate inclusion of Healthy 2020 people objectives in the curriculum and campaign materials. To have program through which parents and guardians can participate in ensuring high school freshmen acquire good driving etiquette.
To reduce the number DWI-related fatalities involving teenage drivers	To help reduce the number of DWI-related fatalities from hundreds to tens in less than a year’s time. To help high school freshmen achieve high accuracy rates among driving high school freshmen as a precursor to reduced accidents and fatalities.
To reduce the number of DWI-related arrests among high school freshmen teenagers in Albuquerque.	To ensure the rate of freshmen drivers arrested for DWI-related falls to less than 10% in the first year. Ensure in the first year over 80% of students participating in the program avoid DWI-related arrests with an intention of maintaining and/or improving the rate.

Role of government in success plan

It is important to acknowledge the role authorities will play in implementation and success of any plan like the one outlined above (Perry, 2002, p.41). Local state and federal authorities will play an important role in ensuring freshmen high school students’ access mandatory education concerning drunk driving. Authorities will especially be crucial in providing financial, moral and legislative support. Particularly, there will be a special reference to the Healthy people 2020 objectives concerning alcohol consumption among the population and specifically among the youth.

Already, federal authorities are working with state and local authorities to achieve initiatives as outlined in the Healthy people 2020 initiatives. Some of these initiatives include a targeted 25.5% reduction in the number of teenagers exposed to people rides with drunken adults. This is from an estimated 28.3% of students in 9^th grade who authorities believe ride in the same vehicle with drivers under the influence (Healthy People 2020).

Financial, moral and legislative support from authorities will manifest itself in initiatives such as Health people 2020.

The plan will heavily rely on financial support from all levels of governments in order to set up the required curriculum and meet other costs such as teacher training and remuneration in the course of implementation. Particularly, financial resources from all these levels of government will also come handy in availing curriculum materials, hiring professionals like the police officers and advocates for dispensation of first hand information on drunk driving. The resources will also come in handy in availing information through other channels besides the primary classroom curriculum.

Authorities will also play an important role in providing legislative support to successful implementation of the plan outlined above. Particularly, the state legislature and the city council will help in passing laws and declarations requiring mandatory set up of the said cause and enrollment of student from the target group. Legislation will especially help authorities and other advocates reach private schools under their jurisdiction who in regular circumstances may shield their students from undergoing the designated course. Authorities may, through legislation may help in committing extra financial resources if need be. Additionally, all levels of governments will help through legislation in improving provisions of the laws or statutes establishing the mandatory course.

Closely related to government’s legislative role is its moral role. It is almost given that people will most likely take government sponsored programs seriously. In this case, a requirement by government that all freshman students in high school go through a mandatory DWI-related course will give credibility and impetus to the program. Sanctioning of the program by government will ensure a smooth integration into other government programs effectively ensuring wide access and success of the program. Finally, the authorities; federal, state and local are in a better position socially to influence success of the program given the numerous programs undertaken by them and the common overlapping that regularly occurs.

It is also important to note that international authorities will play a crucial role in success of such a plan. This will mainly be through comparison. Successful implementation of a similar program in a different country is likely to provide ground for proponents of such a plan to convince both authorities and society of necessity of having legislation and the plan in place.

Conclusion

The proposed plan involving “early intervention requiring freshmen in high school to have mandatory class on drinking and driving “will no doubt lead to decreased cases of DWI among teenagers’ especially in freshmen high school students in the country. The goals and objectives closely meet the community’s needs concerning drunk driving. The main aim is to caution new and young driver from falling into the DWI-related offenses that normally have grave consequences. Additionally, reasoning is that school is the best plat from through which to reach this potential group.

References

Century Council. New Mexico. Web.

Gerdes, I. L. (2004). Drunk Driving. Chicago: John Willey & Sons Inc.

Healthy People 2020. An Opportunity to Address the Social Determinants of Health in the United States. Web.

Perry, C. et al. (2002). Class ActionDrinking and DrivingCasebook. New York: Routledge.

Sternheimer, K. (2006). Kids these days: factsandfictions about today’s youth. New York: John Willey& Sons.

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