Grade 12 students are preparing for exams and after that graduation and while it is a time for celebration and revelry, it is not a time to throw caution and common sense to the wind.
Over the Victoria Day long weekend, there was a bonfire that was left abandoned in the Lynch Creek area – allegedly by grad students, though not confirmed – and if the conditions were drier, it could’ve led to a wildfire.
There were empty alcoholic beverage containers strewn across the area as well.
Common sense isn’t limited to having water handy during a campfire, it also extends to knowing not to drink and drive or speed after the prom and graduation celebrations.
According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada, automobile accidents are one of the top causes of death for people aged 15 to 25 years of age and of those accidents, alcohol was figured to be a factor in 45 per cent of them.
While people aged 16 to 25 years of age only made up 13.2 per cent of Canada’s population in 2006, MADD said they were involved in 33.4 per cent of every automobile accident death that was alcohol-related that year.
There are alcohol-free graduation celebrations (dry grad).
Grand Forks Secondary School is having a “dry” prom and catered dinner on June 25 and BC Liquor Stores took donations for dry grad earlier in the year.
But there are also celebrations and parties that take place afterwards that do involve alcohol.
Last year, Grand Forks RCMP said that there was an illegal rave party in the area around graduation time and tickets were handed out for a number of infractions, including failure to wear seatbelts and display new driver signs.
There were also 24-hour driving suspensions handed out and warnings for open liquor as well as marijuana and liquor seizures.
This year’s graduation hasn’t taken place yet but similar suspensions and seizures could happen again.
People who are graduating shouldn’t be drinking anyways and not only those who are driving.
The legal drinking age is 19 years of age, one year more than the age of most Grade 12 students.
It’s understandable why those about to graduate from high school want to drink at this time of year, as it is considered a rite of passage to many, but it won’t hurt to wait another year.
Graduating students will have the rest of their lives to enjoy alcoholic beverages and graduation from high school comes once in a lifetime.
– The Grand Forks Gazette