A message to teens and their parents

With graduation and summer coming up, the recent article “Wrecks remain top killer of U.S. teens” underscore the perils of teens driving amidst the distraction of friends, cell phones and especially drinking. At a recent program at Valley General Hospital, a panel of high school students and adults discussed on-going efforts to reduce teen-age drinking, especially as it relates to driving. We asked the students to tell us what works and what doesn’t. This is what we heard:

n Enforcement works, but it should be swift. Teens don’t like the inconvenience of losing their driving privilege. They praised the efforts of local police to get the message into the schools but felt the courts took too long to take away a license.

n Teens need to hear from their parents that underage drinking is not acceptable. But when the message is rigid and threatening, it doesn’t work. Teens need to be made accountable for their actions, with the understanding that they can learn from their mistakes.

n Communities should work with youth to offer other activities that are accessible to all students so they can have fun without alcohol.

As parents and caring adults, we need to pay attention to these messages. We also must not lose sight of the underlying issues that drive teens to self-medicate with alcohol – feelings of isolation, depression and low self-esteem. Although the students told us that they think their peers are taking more responsibility in avoiding drinking and driving, it takes just one person who has been drinking to get behind the wheel and onto the roadway. At Valley General Hospital, our Emergency staff dread the increase in motor vehicle accidents that come with mixing summer and alcohol.

The results are sometimes death, often serious injury, and always pain.

Talk and listen to a teen. The young people in our communities have too much to offer to risk their future on our highways.

Director of Community Relations

Valley General Hospital

Monroe