MADD presentation moves staff and students of DSS

Taylor Rowe

       The Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization gave a very moving presentation to the staff and students of Dunnville Secondary School (DSS) last Monday, April 2. It was clear that the organization's strong message really touched the audience.

Staff and students were shown a very graphic, and intense multimedia presentation on the topic of impaired driving. The video showed a fictional scenario that involved a young man getting behind the wheel of a vehicle while highly intoxicated with alcohol and marijuana. In the car was his best friend, his sister and his girlfriend. He ended up crashing the car, killing his sister and seriously injuring the other two passengers. The video continued to show the effects that this one decision had not only on his own life and future, but on the lives of everyone involved, as well as their families.

Although this story was made up specifically for this presentation, that is not to say that situations like this cannot or have not happened. Staff and students were given light to this during the real life testimonies that were shown at the end of the presentation.

The testimonies included mothers, brothers, and daughters who have lost people in their lives due to impaired driving. These testimonies showed that the effects of one bad decision to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while impaired can affect the lives of everyone involved forever.

The speaker who gave this presentation asked students to think about the physical, financial and emotional causes that impaired driving has not only on the impaired driver, but on the lives of everyone who becomes involved as a result of it.“Many young people think that they are invincible, but they are not,” he said.

“It was a very meaningful and thought provoking presentation for the students,” says Donna McMahon, DSS guidance counsellor. McMahon also emphasized the importance of this presentation, with long weekends and prom approaching.