Prom and Drinking: Deadly Combination

Prom+and+Drinking%3A+Deadly+Combination

Last week, Hammonton High School attended the Junior-Senior prom at the Sheraton Hotel in Atlantic City. Prom night is the biggest night for senior girls around the country. This is a night when they can get all dressed up and look their best and just have a ball with their friends. But, it can also be one of the worst or even worse, their last.

A lot of teens like to have a good time even before their prom night even starts. So on the way to the prom, they’ll drink or maybe smoke a little something to lighten the mood.

What’s the big deal, right?

Well, more than 90% of teens believe that their classmates will drink and drive on prom night. This is a scary fact and shows that this generation of teens have little regard for their lives and the lives around them. Only 29% of them believe that driving on prom night comes with some degree of danger. Statistics show roughly a third of alcohol-related teen traffic fatalities occur between April and June, which is considered the peak of prom season.

Before hopping into that car after prom, stop and try to think about what you did earlier that night.

54% of teens have at least four drinks on prom night and still drive down to the shore for prom weekend. There are things you can do to make sure that alcohol doesn’t claim your life.

One, stay with a group of trusted friends that know how to handle situations or are smart enough to know what to do. Two, arrange a safe transportation method before the night is over. And three, easily the most obvious one, do not drive if you have been drinking or drive with someone who has been drinking.

The sad truth about the wonderful night of prom, some teens don’t make it home to see their parents again. But some are more lucky than others. Phaedra Marriott- Olsen was a 22 year old woman who was heading to a concert in Tennessee with a few friends. That same night was prom. On her way, she was hit head on by a drunk teenager and was paralyzed in the accident. She’s now 40 and does speeches at high schools before prom nights to raise awareness.

So before you head to prom or even leave prom, use the head that’s on your shoulders to think about what you drank, smoked, etc. before stepping foot into that car to drive off to your death. Better be safe than sorry because it’s a fact that your parents would like to see you in their arms rather than an ambulance after prom.