Saving Lives with MADD Canada

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For as long as I live, I will never forget the worst day of my life. That was the day that our 16-year-old son Dave died as the result of an impaired driving crash. He was a passenger in a car driven by a friend. Both had been drinking and the driver lost control of the car, crashing into a pole. Dave died of head injuries. The driver was eventually convicted of impaired driving causing death. Life as we knew it ended that day.

As an educator, you may have experienced similar losses in your school community. You’ve likely witnessed the grief and trauma and tried to give support as best you could. Maybe you have had a personal loss or injury. Perhaps you were like me and asked “why?” I’ve learned there are no definitive answers to that question. We can’t change the past but we can make a difference for future young people.

We know that impaired driving is 100% preventable but we also know that road crashes are the number one cause of teen death in Canada and 45% of teens killed on the road have been drinking. With the current popularity of cannabis, studies show that 20% of high school students drive after smoking cannabis.

Like Dave, many teens underestimate the danger of getting in a car with a driver who has been drinking. In fact, 31.9% of students surveyed by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health reported being a passenger in a car driven by a drunk driver.

We all play a role in educating young people about the dangers of impaired driving. MADD Canada has produced two multi-media presentations to help educate elementary and secondary school students. Shown on three giant screens with a great sound system, it is ideal for school assemblies.

Dead on Arrival for Grades 7 to 12 is a bold and intensely emotional story of the lasting effects one wrong move can make. Dead on Arrival explores characters whose lives are catapulted into unforeseen dramatic situations in the aftermath of an impaired driving crash. The story follows Alex and his teenage friends drinking and smoking marijuana at home as they begin their preparations for an end of the school year party. Tragically, typical teenage party plans turn deadly for this group. On the way to the party, and only blocks from home, Alex drives through a red light, smashing into a street pole. The story flash-forwards to the ER, where doctors’ attempts to save Alex are futile and he is pronounced dead.

Meanwhile, the emergency medical personnel scramble to save Alex’s girlfriend, Katie, a passenger in the car. She survives but is seriously injured and gets the news that she will never walk again. The imagery is real, disturbing and dramatically engaging … tracheotomy tubes are prodded deep into throats, catheters are spiked into Alex’s body while the doctors desperately try to resuscitate him. A doctor comes out of surgery to notify Alex’s parents that their son has died and we are witness to the pain and agony that a parent feels when they lose a child. We then move to the funeral arrangements and watch as Alex’s parents and family choose a casket, and prepare to bury their son.

Throughout the events, an ominous voiceover narrates. It is the disembodied voice of Alex’s spirit as he watches the events unfold.

The tragedy echoes throughout the community, especially in the classroom among the group’s peers. In the final scenes, we move to the cemetery where earth is thrown onto Alex’s casket as it is lowered into the grave.

Dead on Arrival ends with real life victim stories narrated by Robb Nash, lead singer of Live on Arrival, and a victim tribute with photos, names and dates of teen victims as the credits roll.
Alcohol consumption can begin at a very early age. Studies show us that young people who drink alcohol before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependency than those who wait until 21. In 2003, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Ontario Student Drug Use Survey found that the use of alcohol and cannabis starts as early as age 11.

MADD Canada’s elementary program is designed to educate youth about the risk of harm associated with alcohol and drug use and to help them form beliefs and opinions about alcohol and drugs as well as impaired driving before they are faced with peer pressure.

MADD Scientist and the Quest for Power introduces the concepts that the Brain, the Heart and Guts are what give you Power and if the students can find out how to get those things they will earn their Power Badges. As the MADD Scientist explains, “It’s all there inside you, but you need to figure it out.” The game takes us into different 2D environments where we meet a variety of people who impart knowledge through interview segments.

Students learn about refusal skills if faced with an unsafe ride, how to ride safely in a car or bus and how to protect themselves from an unsafe driver. They learn the importance of wearing a bike helmet, and the risks associated with brain injuries.

A young boy shares his story about helping his 16-year-old older brother to deceive their parents so his brother could have a house party where alcohol was being consumed. The evening ended in tragedy and the younger brother talks about how he feels now about his role that evening. Could he have prevented the tragedy if he had told his parents about the party?

Role models Craig Keilburger, founder of Free the Children, and Adam Van Koeverden, Olympic kayak champion, share their messages about making a difference and achieving your dreams.
Youth education is a critical part of MADD Canada’s strategy to preventing impaired driving. We understand that the long-term solution to the problem of impaired driving is to get our message out while youth are forming beliefs and patterns of behaviour. Your support of this program will encourage a life-long habit of responsible behaviour on and off our roads. Together we will save lives!