Name:
Christine Mayer
High School:
Avon Lake High School
Essay:
As a four year member and Vice President of Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) at my school, I am incessantly seeking new ways to raise awareness for the destructiveness and dangers of drunk driving. I have had a personal experience with an alcoholic, and I know the emotional and physical effects of drinking. I have made it a goal to prevent anyone else from going through this type of experience, mainly through my work with SADD. My school has always had a bad reputation for underage drinking, and this club has aided in decreasing the number of students who participate in such hazardous activity.
The past few years I have aided in some effective projects that have helped to prevent teenagers from drinking and driving. We called one venture the "Chain of Life," and pleaded that students don't break it. The chain was an interlocking paper chain constructed with pieces of paper that contained every student's name from our school on them. We told the students that without each and every one of them, our chain couldn't be complete. This idea stressed the importance for students to stay safe and think twice before participating in risky activities. By telling students that each and every one of them matter, and that we need all of them to be complete, it emphasizes the significance of making safe choices. Another project was known as the "Prom Promise." We wrote a contract stating that all the signers would vow to make safe choices at prom, including not becoming intoxicated. We then hung a blown-up version of the contract in the main hallway of the school, where everyone could see it. The turnout was stupendous, and we had outstanding participation. Be being sober during prom, the students were able to make the event more memorable.
But the most drastic, and most effective, campaign for sober students is conducted every May on our football field. SADD teams up with local city police and fire services to stage a mock car crash, imitating a drunk driving accident. Two cars are smashed and destroyed when the students arrive to the scene to witness the after effects of the accident. A skit where a group of teenage victims of the crash discover that one of their friends did not survive the crash. A Life Flight helicopter is brought in, and the actors' parents arrive to the scene. Everyone is bloodied and wounded, and the emotions and tensions are felt by everyone in the audience. The actors in the skit are students from our school, this way the disaster is made more realistic. One actress screams out as she discovers her best friend has died. The scene is a complete wreck, and the devastation really hits the students. This mock crash is successful at making students realize that their actions could lead them into this type of danger. When they have the chance to see the tragic outcome, it persuades them that consequences of drinking are not worth doing it.
