Deepest sympathies to the parents whose children were killed in the vehicle shown in this photo. There were bad choices made here by many people... and this is a partial list of why this perfect storm occurred...The car was going about 100 mph in a residential road with a speed limit of 30 mph. It was 5:30 in the morning after a night of partying in a town an hour away. The driver had two previous speeding tickets and a red-light ticket and was known for driving fast. The occupants were all teenagers, some as young as 14 or 15. Seat belts were not used by some of the passengers. It was Spring Break Week.
It seems that after the death of a teenager from a drug overdose, an accident, a drive by shooting, or many other causes, the newspaper reports that the teen is invariably on the cusp of turning his life around, is an "honor student" or "so unlike him" to do whatever caused the tragedy. The stupidity of the action that put them in the paper is overshadowed by the alleged surprise that something bad happened. "Who woulda thought?"
As a parent and a grandparent, there is one common denominator in many of these stories... selfishness and inconsiderate behavior and the choice that a moment's pleasure means more to the teen than his friends, loved ones, and the community at large. We hear all the time about how the young are concerned about inheriting an earth with clean air as they stand on the sidewalk across the street from the school smoking. About clean water as they ingest all manner of unknown substances into their young bodies to get a high. And about stewardship of the planet as they race through residential neighborhoods at 100 miles an hour with no concern for the early morning jogger, or someone's loved one going out to pick up the morning paper.
Hellen Keller could have seen this one coming. I am glad that the local paper did a followup story on this tragedy. Perhaps, but unlikely, the students and friends who survive either through luck or by making better choices might think twice. It is a goal of drug education to show similar stories and photos of teens who made a different kind of bad decision in the hopes of "shocking" others with the reality that "with bad decisions come bad outcomes". We who are older and lived through some of our bad decisions really want to help prevent tragedies like this one. Telling the truth, the whole truth about the events that lead up to the the loss of kids that were generally good citizens who just did not care about themselves or anyone else for a moment and they , their loved ones, and society paid the price. Stop look and listen. If your son has three traffic violations in his teens... take the car away... let him walk. And for God's sake don't let him pack his car full of kids and stay out all night. And teach your kids to wear their seat belts, maybe even, perish the thought, by example, although in this case based on the photo it might not have helped. Princess Diana died because she was not wearing a seat belt. She is immortalized. Your kid might make the paper one morning, become a forgotten face in a sea of statistics, and you are left to live a life of "If only I had...."
No comments:
Post a Comment