History
of SADD(provided by SADD.ORG): SADD is founded by Robert Anastas at Wayland High School in
Massachusetts. He and a group of 15 students develop the SADD concept and the
Contract for Life In 1981, 6000 youths are killed in alcohol related crashes.
1982: SADD goes national with chapters founded throughout Massachusetts, Arizona,
North Carolina, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania and
Maine.1983: SADD public service announcements run in every television market in
America. 1984: Carl Olsen, the first SADD president at Wayland High School, is
appointed by the Director of Health and Human Services as the only student to a
three-year panel studying the alcoholism in America. 1985: SADD has its first
presidential moment when President Reagan meets with SADD students of River
Dell High School in New Jersey and compliments them on their important role in
the national effort of drunk driving prevention.1997: SADD adopts a new name:
Students Against Destructive Decisions ( this was a name change from the name
of Students against Drunk Driving) 2010: SADD participates in Oprah Winfrey’s
inaugural “No Phone Zone Day” events across the country, inspiring countless
teens and adults to end texting while driving.
SADD’s method “SADD
supports passage and enforcement of comprehensive drinking age laws that
prohibit the purchase, attempt to purchase, or possession of alcohol by a
person under the age of 21. Enforcement efforts should be directed at
youth, adult providers, sellers, servers, and others who are in a position to
endanger youth. Use of fraudulent identification should be deterred
through heightened security measures and through enforcement of the law.
Law enforcement officials should join with other members of the community in
raising awareness among adults as well as teens of the dangers of underage drinking
and the consequences of violating the law”(SADD). “SADD believes that young
people can have fun, enjoy life and nurture positive personal relationships
without the distraction and distortion of alcohol. SADD seeks to demonstrate
positive and attractive alternatives to alcohol and other drug-infused
activities for teenagers.” SADD makes an obvious to see no drinking stance for alcohol for
minors. Which I feel is a main
contributor in the DUI prevention program. Because of their firm values on no
drinking I believe it influences at least during their high school years as
long as there is constant reminder which is why SADD has key chains, wrist
bands, t-shirts, back packs and even dog tags.
Your blog post has a lot of information straight off their website which is very valuable for the reader. Prevention programs such as S.A.D.D. are good tools that school administration can use in hopes of deterring students from drinking and driving but the important question to ask ourselves is if they actually work. I can remember my high school days where we would have a speaker who would come in talking about the devastating loss of his or her daughter due to drinking and driving. Did it make me and my friends think twice about doing it, yes. Did we then a few weeks later go out drinking where someone under the influence was driving, yes. I'm ashamed and thankful for being alive for the things that my friends and I did in high school. In my opinion, these prevention programs are good in theory, but are not necessarily good on paper. We had many programs in my small high school, but every year without fail, someone would die from drinking and driving before graduation. We called it "the curse." In reality, I think most of it was due to lack of education and support from the parents who could have potentially prevented the problem in the first place. My mother understood that the likelihood of experimenting with alcohol in high school was very high so she always told me that if I needed to be picked up, she would without judgement and without fail. If parents were more involved within the community, maybe students wouldn't feel as though they had to get drunk to have fun or even drive after they were drinking. Also, in my small town, just last year, some parents in my town threw a drinking party for their graduating son. Dylan Boozer who was also a senior was drinking along with his friend and drove home. His friend flipped his car three times and came out unscathed, Dylan's family pulled the plug three weeks later because he wasn't responding to any treatment. The parents who threw the party let the boys go home. Oh, the best part, when the driver pulled out of the driveway, he ran over the mailbox. The parents laughed and let them on their merry way. It disgusts me. If you're wondering, charges were never brought up on the driver nor the parents for supplying an exorbitant amount of alcohol. Small town politics at its finest!
ReplyDeleteSadly (no pun intended), organizations such as SADD and DARE are rarely effective because students are forced to sit through boring and tedious lectures that serve as no consequence to them in their later years. In order for these organizations to be effective, they need to offer activities that students can take part in that encourage them to meet other people who also want to make the pledge to never do drugs. Those that make that pledge and are held accountable by their peers are more likely to be successful in living drug-free lives than those that have to sit through boring lectures and are forced to say that they will abstain from drugs and other destructive behaviors in order to pass the class.
ReplyDeletePrograms like these are a necessity in high school and even college campuses. Its only too easy for large amounts of 18-22 year old to male poor decisions. I couldn't agree more with Whelchel. Overall it is proven that SADD and DARE have very low effects on the students they are trying to help, and worst of all they are extremely costly and time consuming. The need for more ways to engage students into realizing the dangers is high, but the creative ways to implement them is the real downfall.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that D.A.R.E. was a pretty ineffective prevention program so it is hard for me to see S.A.D.D. being effective especially because this program is aimed at teens and young adults as opposed to children. The later you reach out to people, the less chance you have of changing their minds. In my opinion, the best way to stop students from underage drinking is by attacking the home front. I say this for one major reason. Out of all my friends from back home, only one person drinks and drives, and he does it all the time. We always beg him not to and hide his keys, but at the end of the night he always finds a way to drive home. We recently found out that our friend's dad has been charged with 3 DUI's (even though our friend hasn't been caught yet). If the father of the family does something illegal and thinks nothing of his actions, then why should anyone else in the family do the right thing? We have to try and stop bad decision making at the top of the food chain so it can hopefully trickle down to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above comments. It is hard to implement programs aimed at students when they are taught through lectures and powerpoints presented by officers that the students will probably never see again. If the programs could be taught by students to students, it may be found to be more effective than just throwing a bunch of random facts at young kids.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the mission of the program seems to one that will effectively prevent students from drinking and driving it is one that has proven to not work. As mentioned in some comments before programs like this one and D.A.R.E. do not lower alcohol or drug consumption amongst young teens. I had very strict parents who did not tolerate behavior. It wasn't really a thought to consume alcohol in high school. I will admit that I was not twenty one when I had my first drink but I was in college. That may not make it any better but I would feel better with twenty year old having a drink rather than a fifteen year old. Even after all the infomercials we see about drinking and driving, the graphic photos of car accident victims, and the horror stories we hear through word of mouth, you still see drinking and driving. With being in the criminal justice field I understand how a driving under the influence violation could ruin my career. Either I am the designated driver and do not drink or if I am drinking heavily I make sure I have a sober way home.
ReplyDelete