MADD about drinking and driving
By Ryan Crocker
canoe.ca
June 6, 2008

With graduation celebrations fast approaching, representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are working tirelessly to impress upon graduates the importance of making responsible, informed decisions.

Isabel Bland, MADD’s Western School Outreach Program field representative, was at the Edward Schreyer School on Tuesday to do just that. She shared a deeply personal story with the students to explain why she was drawn to MADD and why she’s touring schools on a tour sponsored by Manitoba Public Insurance.

“All of us who work for MADD, myself included, wouldn’t do this if we didn’t believe in it,” Bland said, sharing the story of a former boyfriend who was killed as a result of drinking and driving.

She stressed such tragedies are always senseless.  “It’s a 100 per cent preventable crime,” she added, asking the students how different things might have been for him and his loved ones if only he’d chosen not to drive, if only his friends had tried to stop him.

With that, she introduced an education film, Friday Night.

The film shared the stories of others killed as a result of drinking and driving or someone else’s drinking and driving. The film also featured actors depicting a house party where alcohol and drugs are a part of the festivities.

Two narrators introduced and followed up each story and scene and explained to the students that the stress they feel is simply one of the first signs they’re becoming adults and are have adult responsibilities. They explained, should students choose alcohol or drugs to alleviate that stress and relax, they might not be able to relax sober; should they choose alcohol or drugs to ease adult, social interactions, they might not be able to break the ice sober. The narrators also explained that combining alcohol and drugs often amplifies the effects of each.

One of the stories shared in Friday Night was about a 23-year-old woman who was always the first to speak out against drinking and driving. She was a tomboy and told her mother she was ready to start seriously looking for a long-term relationship and settling down to raise a family. Her mother suspects that might have had something to do with a life-changing decision the young woman made: to get into the car with a driver who had been drinking. The narrators explained it’s a decision young women are more likely to make than young men, often with fatal consequences. That’s how the story ended for this particular young woman. The narrators explained, on any cell phone in Canada, dialing #TAXI will connect the caller with a nearby taxi company – it might cost a few bucks, but, in retrospect, how much would that young woman’s loved ones be willing to pay?

The narrators noted there are two types of drinkers – those who enjoy a social drink and those who drink with the purpose of getting drunk, of losing control. They asked students to seriously consider how much control they want to lose. In addition to the well-known dangers of alcohol poisoning and even rape, there are other dangers to losing too much control and one such story was shared – the story of a 17-year-old man who had a bit too much to drink, left a party to walk home, fell into a small creek, and drowned. Sober, you’d almost have to be trying in order to drown in such a creek – but drunk, he fell and was dead within minutes.

Friday Night also showed the students how their unfortunate decision can cause a lifetime of pain for others. It shared the story of man struck by a drunk driver who had to watch his friend in the passenger seat die, unable to do anything. It shared the story of a young couple returning home from university, struck and killed by a drunk driver.

When the film was over, Bland explained the reason the students were being shown it was because these are the sorts of mistakes they don’t need to repeat to learn from – they can learn from the stories of others and not end up in similar tragedies themselves.
Another second chance

It was a message echoed by Live on Arrival’s lead singer, Rob Nash, who was also on hand to speak to the students and perform a sneak preview of a new song in the works.
Nash shared his story of joyriding with friends in high school and striking a truck head-on. His skull was crushed and he was so far gone the call that went out to his parents left them with the impression they were going to the hospital to identify his body. Somehow, though, his pulse gained strength on the way to the hospital – hence the name of the band, Live on Arrival.

“You need to know the choices you’re making now can affect the rest of your life, but they can also end it,” Nash said, noting all the decisions high school graduates have to make, not only about their future, but about graduation celebrations.

He stressed the importance of not taking life forgranted and reminded these students that, as Canadians, they have far too many opportunities available to them to lose their lives to such senseless accidents. He noted his parents never had to think about whether or not they could afford to surgeries that saved his life – just one of the many benefits of the country we share.

Nash also noted he will be MADD’s spokesperson next year and talked about what it was like to visit the organization’s offices and see photographs of the many, many, many victims.

“Just looking at the wall of pictures for a little while, I found five pictures of babies that died when they were one day old,” Nash said, asking the students to think about what that must be like for those families, to be on their way home, ready to start a happy life, and to have it all taken away by someone else’s choices.

Before the presentation ended, he gave the students a sneak peek at a new single, Another Second Chance, which MADD will use in one of its upcoming videos.

“This is why MADD and Manitoba Public Insurance are doing this,” Nash said. “You don’t have to be a part of one of these situations.”