In the News

The peril of drinking and driving
The Guardian
Editorial
April 8, 2010

Young people, who often feel invincible, can be a tough audience to reach with the anti-drinking and driving message

The decision by MADD Canada to show the multi-media presentation, Wasted, recently to intermediate and high school students in the province was a worthwhile initiative and a timely one.

If we want to instil in our young people the message that drinking and driving is dangerous and foolish, we should act on this as early as possible. And school is an ideal forum for this lesson. That's where kids build friendships, feel the impact of peer pressure and develop their own value systems. Offering a powerful presentation, such as Wasted, to an assembly of young viewers is an effective strategy if you're looking for impact - and one that might have some staying power.

MADD Canada and the P.E.I. Liquor Commission sponsored the presentation last month as part of an attempt by MADD Canada to reduce the number of young people being killed or injured on Canadian roads and highways. Its high school multi-media assembly program tells the fictional story of some teenage friends whose lives are affected by a poor decision that results in a horrific car crash.

In co-operating with MADD Canada, Robert Vessey, minister responsible for the P.E.I. Liquor Commission, was quoted as saying he hopes the initiative will lead to fewer alcohol-related crashes, which he says take a disproportionate toll on young drivers. Road crashes are the number one cause of teen death in Canada, with alcohol being a factor in 45 per cent of those incidents.

That's a sobering message, but young people can be a tough audience. It's the nature of youth to think they're invincible. As MADD Canada president, Margaret Miller, said when the presentations were being made in the province, "young people never think a road crash will happen to them."

The recent screening of Wasted hopefully made its young viewers question that assumption, consider their own attitudes toward drinking and driving, and realize, as Miller says, that "they have the power to stop impaired driving by making the right choices."

Young people also need to be made more aware of the influence and power of peer pressure - something they contend with every day. Even though they may be aware of the dangers of drinking and driving, how many have the personal confidence to speak out against it when they're with friends? Even many adults find this challenging.

After seeing MADD Canada's multi-media presentation, Island young people might be more inclined to discuss their own attitudes about drinking and driving with each other. They may also be surprised to learn they have more support in objecting to the practice than they perhaps thought.