Teaching Guide: Drinking & Driving

The number one cause of death for people in their late teens and early twenties is drunk driving. Yet, close to 44 percent of high school sophomores admit that within the past month they knowingly rode with a driver who was using drugs or alcohol.

In this program, comedian/teen counselor Michael Pritchard visits with teenagers in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Madison, Wisconsin, to talk about how to stay out of (or get out of) drinking/driving predicaments and still be cool. As one boy so honestly put it, “It’s hard for guys like me who aren’t very popular. Friendships I have with guys who brag about dope, drinking, and wild parties are important. A lot of times you just go along with it and tell yourself next time you won’t do it. But then you go along with them anyway.”

This material is from the teaching guide
for the video “Drinking & Driving“
in the 12-part DVD series THE POWER OF CHOICE

 

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

1. To build young people’s awareness of the issue of drunk driving.
2. To show them that driving drunk, or going along with others who do, is always a matter of choice. And that they always have the power to make that choice for themselves.
3. To encourage them to anticipate when a drinking/driving situation may arise and plan alternatives.
4. To help them to see themselves as having the power to prevent drunk driving.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

 

1. How do you know when you’ve done too much drinking to drive?

2. How do you know if somebody else is too drunk to drive?

3. Since almost all high school kids are under the legal drinking age, why are we even talking about drunk driving?

4. Does a person have to be drunk to be too impaired to drive?

5. Do you think you can reliably tell if a person is too impaired to drive? How?

6. Have you ever gotten into a car with a driver you thought was ok, but then discovered he/she was too impaired to drive? What does that teach you?

7. How much would you have to drink before you’d figure you shouldn’t drive?

8. Have you ever driven while intoxicated and realized later you should not have been driving? What did you learn from that? How will you prevent it from happening
again?

9. Do any of you have rules or guidelines for yourself designed to keep you out of drinking/ driving situations?

10. You’re at a party and a friend of yours is about to drive home drunk. Do you have the right to try to stop him? How would you go about it?

11. How do you deal with a situation in which you are driving with a parent who is drunk . . .
a) when you’re alone with one of your parents?
b) when you’re with a friend’s parent?
c) when you’re driving with an adult you don’t know well, as babysitters often do?

12. You’re at a party and your drunken date insists on driving you home. What are your options?

13. Is there a way to drive with friends who drink without risking either your life or your popularity?

14. Why do some people drive when drunk even though they know they’re risking their lives?

15. When you’re drunk, is there anything you can do to get sober faster?

TIP: No, there isn’t. Drinking coffee, taking a cold shower, or walking around outdoors will do nothing to make you sober.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

1. Describe the drinking and driving situations that you are most likely to get into, then write a strategy for getting out of each one.

2. What happens to a person in your state when he or she is either arrested for drunk driving, or is the cause of a drunk driving accident? Do a research paper on the legal proceedings, sentencing, insurance penalties, and other consequences.

3. Write a dramatic scene in which a teenager is stopped by the police for driving under the influence. To complicate the situation, add the teen’s parents at some point.

4. Write and design a flyer informing people about “safe rides” and “designated driver.” Make copies and post these for others to see.

5. Imagine that you are a peer educator, and you have to give a speech to a junior high school class sensitizing them to the issue of drinking and driving. Write a strongly persuasive speech. You might want to include audiovisual materials.

This material is from the teaching guide
for the video “Drinking & Driving“
in the 12-part DVD series THE POWER OF CHOICE

 

GROUP ACTIVITIES

1. Brainstorm solutions to this hypothetical situation: You’ve just moved to a new city and it’s the start of your senior year. You’re the new kid and you want to be accepted. The “in”
crowd has invited you to go to the beach with them Saturday morning. When they come to pick you up, they’ve all been drinking and their van is cluttered with beer cans. How can
you avoid getting into this drinking/driving situation and still be cool?

2. Divide into small groups. Anticipate the circumstances in which the next drunk-driving fatality involving a teenager might occur in your community. Then work out a strategy to prevent it from happening. Compare your ideas with those of the other groups.

3. Organize an anti-drunk-driving campaign for your school. If your school does not already have a chapter of SADD (Students Against Drinking and Driving) consider organizing one. Likewise for a Safe-Rides program.

4. Design and conduct an anti-drinking/ driving poster contest for the schools in your community. Try to involve local television, newspapers, and merchants.

5. Roleplay: Your date is too drunk to drive you home. Roleplay your options in this situation. Replay this scene several times until you feel like you have reached a satisfactory and safe conclusion to this difficult situation.