A Prince Albert high school is unveiling a commercial that takes a stand against drunk driving, as part of Students Against Drunk Driving’s “impaired driving awareness week.”
Prince Albert Collegiate Institute launched things off with an impactful speech from an Alberta police officer whose dad was killed by a 19-year-old impaired driver more than a decade ago.
Amanda Oling shared the chilling, and tragic details of how she lost her father in 2004. After the crash, her dad’s car started on fire and he wasn’t able to escape.
“My dad’s body was so burned that it was unrecognizable,” Oling told the 100 or so students on Monday morning.
Because she was an officer at the time, her coworkers found out the details of the accident before she did. The night she was told about his death, Oling said she looked at her police uniform without pride for the first time. At that moment, she said, the uniform she wears to protect people each day was a reminder that she despite her best efforts she wasn’t able to save her dad.
Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) advisor Tara Switenky said Oling’s presentation was a good start to a week full of events.
“It engages the kids and gets them to think, not only the facts about what happens if you’re caught drunk driving but how your heart and your family and the emotional response to that tragedy,” Switenky said.
Oling’s message to the teens was “every decision you make in life affects someone else.”
In Prince Albert, stories like this are just as common. In recent years the deaths of residents Ben Darchuk, Brandi Lepine, and Taylor Litwin in drunk driving crashes have made headlines.
Grade 12 student Victor Cook has lost an aunt.
“One of my family members have been lost to impaired driving,” he said. “It was someone really close.”
That loss led him to join SADD.
Cook pointed out that impaired driving statistics for people his age are way higher than other age groups, and that’s led to a very real fear for him.
“I’m getting my license soon. It’s going to be quite hard for me to drive on the road with people who are impaired and with people who out of their mind. So it’s gonna be quite scary and I’m not prepared for it,” he said.
This school year, Cook and his fellow SADD members received a $500 grant from SADD Saskatchewan and SGI to produce a commercial about drunk driving.
The video was showed for the first time on Monday.
Cook says they had strong motivation to make a commercial that teens can relate to.
“They’re the ones growing up that are actually going to be making these decisions so we want to give them the right mindset to make these good decisions and to not get into the vehicle impaired,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll stick with them and it’s something they’ll carry forward and it’ll impact their decisions down the road.”
Activities throughout the week, like drunk goggle basketball and playing flip cup with apple juice, will also be informative. For example, when the cups are flipped, students have to read out what’s written on the bottom – which will be facts about impaired driving.
Switenky said this puts the power in the hands of the teens.
“The purpose of some of these activities is not only to inform our participants of the decisions they make and the impact they have, it’s also to keep each other accountable so that when they are at a party and they have the facts and they see someone doing something like that that they can hold each other accountable and become more responsible individuals,” she said.
Later on this week, students will make another commercial using testimonials from their fellow students who have been affected by drunk driving.