Lil’ Red walks with the West Point – Beemer – Bancroft Chapter of TeamMates.
Suzanne Hince, daughter of Tom and Nancy Osborne, encourages youth in TeamMates to keep working towards graduation.
Tom Osborne speaks out on underage drinking.
Courtesy of West Point News
To see the videos, click the link below:
http://www.bandbvideo.com/JAG
7th – 12th graders from West Point-Beemer and Bancroft-Rosalie High Schools competed for a scholarship to improve their technology departments. Students submitted videos to raise awareness of underage drinking, texting and driving, and internet safety.
Courtesy of West Point News
Courtesy of West Point News
The Husker football coach talks to West Point students about the choices we make in youth and how they affect us.
Courtesy of West Point News
Teens see firsthand effects of drinking and driving
It was eye-opening, in your face, and hopefully for some, life changing.
The devastating effects of drinking and driving are no mystery. But knowing the consequences of getting behind the wheel after drinking still doesn’t keep people off the roads.
Save a Life Tour, a national alcohol awareness program, gave an intense presentation to students from Central Catholic and West Point-Beemer about drinking and driving on Thursday morning at the Public High School.
The seminar started off with a movie of photos and video clips showing the consequences of driving while under the influence. The graphic scenes shown on the big screens were designed to make people think twice and want to make a difference before mixing alcohol with driving.
Not only does it have long-lasting, and sometimes permanent effects, it also has an impact on family members, friends and even complete strangers.
Anytime as little as one drink of alcohol is consumed, driving is impaired and anyone that gets behind the wheel puts everyone else on the road at risk.
The Save a Life Tour speaker at West Point, Brian Beldyga said, of every five people, two people will be in an accident involving alcohol. He added that having any alcohol in one’s body increases a chance for a wreck by five times.
Beldyga went on to share his life experience, speaking in a way that directly targeted the high school students.
“It was very effective. Probably the most effective one I’ve been to,” Central Catholic sophomore Emma Stokely said. “He related it a lot to us. Drunk driving affected his life so much, and it wasn’t even him, it was the people around him.”
The students heard a story of a 15-year-old kid who began to drink to fit in at his school. Because of drinking, he went from a nobody to a kid in the popular click by the time he was a senior, but the price to fit in proved costly.
Beldyga’s prom night senior year, he lost his three best friends in a drunk driving accident, and he blamed himself because “he was the good drunk driver.”
That still didn’t stop Brian from drinking. In college, his habit of drinking went from a weekend thing, to a daily thing.
“I woke up, had frosted flakes and whiskey. That’s binge drinking 101,” Beldyga said.
It wasn’t until Brian lost a loved-one that he had a change of heart about drinking and driving. After becoming engaged, Beldyga’s fiancée was killed by a truck driver who had three beers in him.
This tragedy effected Beldyga so deeply that he has made it his mission to help others open their eyes to this problem, asking ‘why do we always wait until something happens to us before we change?’
“It always comes down to consequences every single time,” he said. “‘The stove is hot, should I touch it.’ That’s the best way to explain it.”
During the presentation, students had an opportunity to try the Save a Life organization’s multi-million dollar drunk driving simulator, giving them a realistic perspective on driving while intoxicated.
A person’s life can change in an instant. The Save a Life Tour is determined to help people realize the serious and damaging effects of driving under the influence. But the only way they can see their message lived out is if society takes this situation to heart and starts choosing to make a difference.
“Please, please don’t tell yourself that you are the exception (to drinking and driving),” Beldyga concluded.
The Save a Life Tour, which came to West Point last Thursday, brought a powerful message to the high school students about the real dangers of drinking and driving. The impact left on the students after the presentation was powerful. Three West Point-Beemer students talk about the presentation and the personal impact it had on them:
n It was pretty intense. It wasn’t the sheltered assemblies like we usually have. — Morgan Nelson, junior
n It was eye-opening. His personal stories stood out a lot. I would never want to do (what happened to him) to any of my family members. — Kari Mahannah, junior
n This showed you the true realities of what happens when you drink and drive. — Sara Pieper, senior
