Drinking-Driving Re-Enactment

The Lake Placid High School, through Melissa Sohns, student advisor, and coordinated with all local EMS and law enforcement, put on a realistic mock DUI car crash, which sent a chilling reminder of the ultimate danger of drinking and driving. However, the Highlands County Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Reduction (HCCC) would like to expand on the message given to the over 800 students, teachers and parents who attended.

It is illegal to drink under the age of 21 and Highlands County has a problem with underage drinking. We know this from several factors and first and foremost is from the last Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey which showed the average age of those kids in middle school who drink began at age 11 ½, and those that begin drinking in high school were 13 1/3 years old. That averages out to the fact that 57 percent of the middle and high school kids admit to drinking.

While we want to focus on the fact that 43 percent of the students do not, all our kids are vulnerable unless we get the message out that drinking under the age of 21 is not only illegal, but that it also has a number of serious consequences.

First, brain research has shown us that the human brain is not fully developed until the early 20s. From www.why21.org (M.A.D.D. Web site): 'The brain goes through dynamic change during adolescence, and alcohol can seriously damage long- and short-term growth processes. Frontal lobe development and the refinement of pathways and connections continue into the mid-20s. Damage from alcohol at this time can be long-term and irreversible.

In addition, short-term or moderate drinking can impair learning and memory far more in youths than in adults. Adolescents need only drink half as much as adults to suffer the same negative effects. Also, if teens start drinking before the age of 15, they are four times more likely to become lifelong substance abusers. So HCCC is dedicated to educating the community on the facts behind the dangers of underage drinking.

Debbie Lees
Sebring