![]() ![]() But prom, to some parents, seems worth the risk if it keeps their kids home and off the roads. Many states impose legal liability of varying degrees on such “social hosts” who furnish alcohol to minors as intolerance to drunken driving has generally gained ground. It is illegal for adults to serve alcohol to minors.” 6 on the card reads: “If you are hosting a prom after party, DO NOT SERVE ALCOHOL. Lopez’s partner schools in the Drug Free Youth in Town effort mail postcards to parents urging them to do commonsense things like stay connected with their kids throughout prom night, know who they’re with, know how to contact other parents in the group and stay up until their kids get home.īut No. Parents know that drinking is going on and they just let it happen.” “Coming from small-town North Dakota, drinking is just kind of accepted into our way of life. That’s when they pack up and go to the real party,” she said. “As soon as 3:30 rolls around everybody leaves. ![]() Jessica Roscoe graduated high school in tiny New Rockford, N.D., last year, skipping all opportunities to drink as Valdes did, but the reality for some of her peers was different once the “official” parties were over. They drink until they pass out, basically,” said Chris Valdes, who graduated from Felix Varela Senior High School in Kendall, Fla., in 2009. Some of these students are first-time drinkers. “It happens at all the schools around here. But what about unsupervised after-parties that leave underage drinkers hung over and hotel rooms strewn with empty liquor bottles the next morning? Research from the insurance industry, The Partnership at (formerly The Partnership for a Drug-Free America), and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) shows 70 percent of high school juniors and seniors expect their peers to drink and drive on prom night.Ĭountering peer pressure to drink - or perceived pressure - coupled with parent and child education, awareness, seat belt use and the fact that staying sober is actually perceived as cool by teens in many areas have all contributed to the overall decline, advocates said.īut prom season remains a fragile time, especially since it signals the start of “senior slump.” It’s the time of year when departing high schoolers start to feel liberated from school and home as they wind down from academics and the pressures of the college application mill and head into graduation and summer party mode.Īt prom, schools rely on random breath alcohol testing, lockdowns of hotel and school venues (once you’re out, you’re out), bloody mock DUI scenes and even drug-sniffing dogs to ensure that dances and other chaperoned events are safe. 01 or higher when involved in fatal crashes dropped 37 percent from 2000 to 2009, but alcohol-fueled road accidents remain the leading cause of death in that age range, according to national data. Year-round, the number of 15- to 20-year-old drivers who had blood alcohol concentrations of. Prom season begins in mid-April and typically touches off spikes in alcohol-related traffic accidents involving young people. The message? “We reiterate the fact - don’t let prom be your last dance,” said Adrian Lopez, director of community outreach for the nonprofit, which works with dozens of south Florida middle and high schools to deter underage drinking. The mock tragedy, like others at high schools around the country, will play out again this year in Miami Beach with help from Drug Free Youth in Town, one of many groups kicking into high gear as the “killing season” approaches. It was a simulation called “Cheat the Reaper: Live to See Your Future,” staged in the parking lot of Miami Beach Senior High School last year with help from students and adults desperate to end drinking and drugging during prom season. Two crashed cars sit nearby, bearing witness in pools of blood to the drunken driving accident that took his life. Wailing friends collapse at the burnished coffin of a teen as pallbearers slowly wheel it away. ![]()
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