When your kid is getting ready for a big weekend event, or a special evening like Burges High School’s upcoming prom, there are a lot of things to do. Dresses need to be bought, tuxes need to be rented, booze needs to be obtained.
Booze? Yes. We all did it when we were younger. We drank underage and most of us were able to live to tell the tale of our underage drinking exploits. But there are a lot of teens who won’t make it out of their teens alive because they either drove drunk or were in a car with someone who did.
Border RAC was in front of Burges High School Wednesday morning to show students there exactly what happens in a drinking and driving crash.
A group of Burges students were part of the re-enactment of a horrific crash on Edgemere. A student was arrested after hitting another vehicle and flipping his car.
As part of the re-enactment, one student was taken to Sierra Providence. Another was taken to UMC. One died on the scene and was taken away in a hearse. Yet another was taken by air ambulance.
Students who watched the scene unfold were silent. They witnessed their fellow students and adults enacting a parent’s worst nightmare.
El Pasoans grow up across the border from Juarez where booze is easy to come by. Parents have house parties because “it’s better that the kids drink at home than out on the streets.”
Stores and bars that sell to underage drinkers become well known and whispered about in school hallways.
Hopefully, seeing the aftermath of a drunk driving incident and watching their fellow students taken away by emergency crews, the students at Burges High School will think twice about drinking and driving.
Are kids going to drink before they are legally able? Yes, they are. What is the answer? House parties? You could be legally liable for any consequences because of the City’s new underage drinking ordinance.
Drive your kids around so they can drink? Most parents don’t want to do that, either. Uber? Underage kids can’t call an Uber, and it’s unlikely an Uber driver would want to ferry around a bunch of drunk teens.
We need to figure this problem out before the simulation in front of Burges becomes a reality.
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Author: Joan Hendricks – Special to the Herald-Post
