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The facts are clear:
Alcohol is the number one drug problem among people
under the age of 21.
Each year, more than 2,200 teens, aged 15-20 years
old, die in alcohol-related crashes.
Teen drivers with three or more passengers are almost
three times as likely to be involved in a fatal crash
than teens without passengers.
And traffic crashes are the number one killer of
teens. More than one-third of teen traffic deaths are
alcohol related.
For the third year in a row, Dalton State has received a
grant from the Governor’s Office for Highway Safety (GOHS)
to raise awareness of alcohol issues on campus. The
grant, totaling $8,600, is being used by the campus’
Bacchus (Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the
Health of University Students) Peer Education Network
during the month of October to increase alcohol
awareness and seat belt safety among young drivers.
“This year we are hosting a week of awareness on these
issues as we have in years past,” says Jami Hall,
Director of Student Activities, noting that this “week
of awareness” coincides with National Collegiate Alcohol
Awareness Week.
“On Monday, we will serve ‘mocktails’ in the Student Center from 11:00 am
until 1:00 pm,” she adds. “It’s important for college
students to realize that there are plenty of beverages
for them to drink in social situations that do not
contain alcohol and which are very tasty. We’ll be
serving ‘Roy Rogers,’ ‘Shirley Temples,’ and
‘Tradewinds’ as examples of those kinds of drinks.” |
Davis Mallory of The Real World |
On Tuesday, at 10:50 am in
the Goodroe Auditorium, Davis Mallory of The Real World will be the
guest speaker. He will talk about the negative effects alcohol has
had on his life and how The Real World has affected him and changed
his behavior. He will share personal experiences dealing with
regrets and the poor decisions that correlate with alcohol abuse as
well as the simple measures that can be taken to avoid such
situations.
From 9:00 am until 1:00 pm on Wednesday, as part of Public Safety’s
“Disaster Preparedness Day,” members of the Bacchus Network will be
on hand to give out incentive items provided by GOHS and they will
sponsor a “beer goggles walk.”
“This activity relies on students wearing ‘beer goggles’ to make
them feel like they are under the influence of alcohol,” says Hall.
“The students are then asked to walk a straight line. It lets them
see how being inebriated affects their vision and their ability to
function.”
And on Thursday, unannounced seat belt checks will be taking place
on campus. Bacchus Network volunteers will count the numbers of
drivers and passengers who are wearing seatbelts. Those numbers are
turned into the state, with the hope that seat belt use will have
increased over the past spring.
The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety believes that many
unnecessary deaths and injuries could be prevented by adhering to
the following rules:
Buckle Up.
Slow Down.
Don’t Drink and Drive.
Be the Leader.
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