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The Citizen, 1993-05-26, Page 6You can lose a lot more than your licence Ministry of the Attorney onia-i. General drinking and driving rom a Teen's Point of View N By Nickl Gropp `s first presentation and I was very d. Norbert managed to show the horrific impaired driving accidents, wilk#5f.k,IFt htening the mood, Of any driiitk*Ii;ing ons I have seen, this is the only one that, 4uite graphic, actually proved what we're told. econstantly hearing statistics, but to me, iStiCS are only numbers, not human beings. Norbert didn't give us statistics, he showed us some victims, some still in the car, and some when they are alive. This gave the numbers a human element. It made them real to the audience. The best thing about Norbert's presentation was the fact that he didn't hide reality. He showed pictures oe cars that were in accidents, burnt people still in the'' cars, and people who were killed in the crash. Norbert also described where the people were positioned in the car before the accident and where they were after. Unlike many other impaired driving presentations Norbert didn't hide the truth, he showed the whole horror of drunk driving accidents. Everyone at Madill appeared to take the presentation seriously, perhaps because so many Madill students have died in car accidents. Though none of the accidents were caused by drunk drivers, everyone at Madill knows what it's like to lose a friend. PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 26,1993. Drinking and driving kills Graphic slides prove the point By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot If telling students not to drink and drive doesn't work, maybe blood and gore will. Either way, Canadian speaker Norbert Georget got his anti-drinking and driving message across loud and clear to students and parents at F.E Madill Secondary School in Wingham May 17. The former Saskatchewan paramedic gave two types of presentations, one to parents in the evening about drinking and parenting and one to students earlier the same day. His message to students was "don't drink and drive" and then he showed them why. The pictures weren't pretty. One slide showed a mangled wreck of a car whose drunk occupants had been killed. There wasn't much left of the car, but the victims left behind a trail of blood and stomach contents across the seats. In another slide, dark, ominous skid marks led to the mangled mass of what was once a car. Beside the wreck was a young man, sprawled unnaturally in the ditch. A few feet from him was a whiskey battle, eerily intact. Slide after slide showed the aftermath of accidents caused by drunk drivers. Then, the slides revealed the interior of a city morgue with the sliding drawers and plastic wrapped bodies, revealing a stark finality to death. "These slides aren't meant to be scare tactics, they're just showing what's real," said Mr. Georget following a heavy silence in the room. Perhaps the most shocking picture he showed was of a convicted drunk driver. Before showing this photograph, he gave the audience a glimpse into a life of a beautiful young nurse who had been instantly killed when that drunk driver slammed into the driver's side of her car, flinging her and the entire steering column completely from the ruined vehicle. She died instantly. Expecting to see the killer as a long-haired, insolent youth, there were audible gasps from the audience when the photograph revealed a young, clean-cut, attractive teenager who looked like the all-American ideal. Mr. Georget has met with this young man who's spent the last three years in jail. The youth told him he felt he deserved all he got, but wanted people to know he has also paid for his crime through the isolation from friends and family, the loss of freedom and the pain of knowing he killed someone. Mr. Georget has also spoken with the young woman's family. He quoted the girl's father as saying "He killed my daughter, but he might as well have killed the rest of my family." Besides the death of fellow motorists, Mr. Georget believes drivers who drink are suicidal. "Drinking and driving is a suicidal act," he said. "It's just like putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger." Students should be choosers, choosing not to drink, he said after delivering his slogan—"We're not born winners and we're not born losers. We're born choosers." This theme was carried into the evening presentation to Good advice Parents listen attentively to speaker Norbert Georget. parents where he also spoke on parenting and how to cope with troubled teens. Mr. Georget, who is unmarried and has no children, compared his parenting advice to experiences he had as a legal guardian to a teenage alcoholic, named Bruce. He learned other parenting techniques while studying sociologyipsy- chology at the University of Sas- katchewan and through training on counselling and human relations. One idea he stresses to parents is that they're not at fault for their children's actions. "If they (teenagers) do something wrong, it's their choice." He said once Bruce had tested him for several evenings by coming home past curfew. Mr. Georget warned him about breaking curfew and when Bruce came home late again, he cancelled an upcoming skiing trip the pair had planned. Bruce had been angry about the punishment but Mr. Georget told him "You chose not to go skiing this weekend when you chose to come home late." Another technique Mr. Georget found helpful with his relationship with Bruce was to make out a contract stipulating ground rules for each of them. Together, they worked out a curfew and house rules so that both parties had a commitment to the rules. He also cautioned parents not to be buddy-buddy with their children. "They don't want you to be their buddies, they want you to be their parents." Being parents, not buddies, means you don't shrug off their bad behaviour. "What you do is say to your child that you love him, but you don't love his behaviour.." Lastly, he enforced the idea of consistency. He related an experience with Bruce where the teenager had gone out with his friends and for a prank, they had stolen all the flags in town, including one from the police station. Bruce thought it was a big joke but Mr. Georget told him it wasn't funny, because it was stealing. He told Bruce he would have to return the flags, including the one belonging to the police station. Bruce begged Mr. Georget to forget this one incident, fearing a criminal record if he turned himself in. Mr. Georget remembers thinking, "Do I really want this kid to have a criminal record?" Though he didn't, he knew Bruce had to face the consequences of his choice to steal. Fortunately, Bruce wasn't charged when he returned the flags. "You say it, you mean it, you do it," said Mr. Georges "They may hate you in their teens, but they'll love you in their 20s." Certainly, the audience loved Mr. Georget's talk. The travelling speaker does this full-time and has spoken to over 400,000 students in 800 school since 1984. It's OM Anti-drinking and driving speaker, Norbert Georget of Saskatchewan, told parents and students at F. E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham that it's O.K. not to drink. Later, he showed them why with a series of graphic slides of accident scenes. Mr. Georget's presentation was sponsored by the school's Ontario Students Against Drinking and Driving (OSAID) organization. Tips for I Parents This list was developed for parents by young offenders serving time at the Guelph Correctional Centre. L Keep cool. Don't fly off the handle. 2.Bug us a little. Be strict. 3. Get tough if we're lying, stealing or being cruel. 4. Call our bluff. Don't compromise or be intimidated by us. 5. When we need punishment, dish it out, BUT let us know you still love us even if we let you down. 6. Praise us when we deserve it. 7. Be honest. Tell us the truth. We can take it. Lukewarm answers make us uneasy. We can smell uncertainty a mile away. 8. Light a candle, show us the way. We need to believe in something bigger than ourselves. 9. Don't get strung out on booze or pills. Remember, children are great imitators. 10. Don't blow your class. Don't try to talk, dress or dance like your kids. You embarrass us and you look ridiculous.