Local schools welcome safe grad presentation

Local police and emergency services were welcomed onto the grounds of area high schools last week, as they offered Safe Grad presentations to area students.

The Safe Grad program was introduced as a way of addressing community concerns regarding teen alcohol use, impaired driving, increased drug use, poor sexual choices, vandalism and violence at celebrations that take place throughout the year - and especially around the end of the school year, when prom and graduation parties are on every student's mind.

The event featured an information session which educated students on the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as an inspirational speaker who told of her near-death experience as a result of drinking and driving.

A re-enactment also took place featuring Grade 12 students as actors. Emergency crews were on hand to recreate the scene of an alcohol-related accident and simulate the procedures they follow in real-life situations, such as providing breathalyzer tests, ensuring that safety procedures are strictly followed, and even staging an emergency rescue using the Jaws of Life.

The inclusion of actual students in the scenario seemed to strike a nerve with the onlookers at Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute and Ecole secondaire catholique regionale de Hawkesbury, as students watched what has been the sad reality for countless teens in the past.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 40 per cent of teenage drivers who are killed in road crashes have been drinking. Furthermore, young drivers who are under the influence of alcohol are most likely to be killed or injured during the summer months, at rates of 32.4 per cent and 40.8 per cent respectively.

Their website also states that by the time a driver reaches a blood alcohol content of 0.10 he or she is 51 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a non-drinking driver.

The next Safe Grad presentation will take place on Thursday, June 3 at Ecole secondaire catholique de Plantagenet.