High school program aims to head off drug, alcohol-related tragedies
The way to gauge the impact of Wednesday's drug and alcohol awareness program on the seniors at Rolling Meadows High School will be by what doesn't happen.
The success of the program sponsored by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, Students Against Drunk Driving and the Illinois Judges Association will be measured by the number of teens who don't drink or use drugs, who don't get arrested on charges of DUI, who don't commit reckless homicide while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
If the pre-prom program saves one person, it will have been worth it, says Earl McMahon, the high school's dean of students.
Past programs have included visual aids like a car wrecked in an alcohol-related crash and a staged drunk-driving accident in the school's parking lot. This one featured the father of a victim as well as a man who served prison time for killing three people in 1998, along with Lake County Juvenile Court Judge Nancy Waites and Cook County Judge Joel Greenblatt of the Third Municipal District in Rolling Meadows.
Joel Mains, stepfather of Caitlin Weese, a Larkin High School senior killed by a drunken driver in 2003, acknowledged that underage drinking occurs.
"I'm a realist," he said. "Many of you in this room drink now."
"Don't get behind the wheel of a car," he said. "Don't put another family through what my family's been through."
Waites discussed the legal consequences of a drug- or alcohol-related arrest on a teenager: a criminal record that in some cases cannot be expunged and can impact one's ability to get a student loan or a job; the loss of driving privileges up to age 21; fines and fees which can run to thousands of dollars, and court-ordered treatment and testing.
Waites urged teens to make the kind of responsible choices that will ensure their own safety and serve as an example to others.
"I know that very little of what I say here is going to influence you," she said. "The group that does influence you is your friends."
Holding the program on the last day of school made for an occasionally fidgety crowd. But McMahon thinks the students got the message.
"I do believe it's helping," he said.