TOWAMENCIN – As prom season, graduation, and thoughts of summer roll around, the North Penn School District Safe Schools Committee reminded us of the hazards of drinking with their annual Drinking Under the Influence prevention event. This two day event consisted of a DUI-related crash reenactment held in the bus circle and then a follow up assembly detailing the aftermath of the accident.
For almost a decade, the Safe School Committee has been putting on this accident demonstration. With the help of multiple fire and police departments, a helicopter, and guest speakers Judge Duffy and a prosecteur, the dangers of driving under the influence were made vividly real.
Wednesday’s demonstration detailed an accident caused by the passenger driving under the influence of alcohol and prescription pills (oxycodone). Assistant Principal Neil Broxterman stressed that distracted driving can be just as dangerous as driving under the influence and that there are consequences when people make bad decisions.
“I think the importance is to give the students the opportunity to see the realities of what can happen if they make destructive decisions. Whether they be alcohol, whether they be texting, whether that be them not paying attention while driving, they’re putting themselves and others at risk. It’s our opportunity and our hope for the Safe Schools Committee that we at least reach one or two students, hopefully more than that, but if we save one or two kids from making a poor decision it’s all worth the effort and volunteerism and time thats given to make this happen,” explained Broxterman.
Assistant fire chief of the Towamencin Fire Department, Jeffrey Mullaly emphasized for students to think of their futures before making any decisions,
“Students need to think about their future and all the things they’ve dreamed about so far and what they want to have in their life. One bad decision can unfortunately result in what we saw here today.”
The Thursday assembly featured Linda Sheftel, whose son Justin was killed by a drunk driver in Ocean City, Maryland in 2005, and Ben Walter, who was the drunk driver during this accident, shared his story via video. His mother was also present at the assembly and sat alongside Justin’s mother Linda. They both shared stories of the tragic loss taking the audience through the timeline of events from being called about the accident to the funeral to years afterwards. The impact that this had on their families and the consequences of their bad decisions were moving and heartbreaking.
Seniors reflected on the two day assembly.
“As I was watching it in the beginning, I had no idea it was going to have such a profound effect on me. She had tissues and was crying and that kind of emotion, knowing that it’s true, has more of an impact on the senior class. It was definitely worth seeing. It made me very aware of how the decisions you make can affect a lot more people than just you. I found it very impressive for both mothers to be on stage together with all of their problems and faults out in the open,” comment senior Ayushi Pola.
Senior Sophia Bergeron agreed stating how the assembly impacted her because “it was real and you could feel the mothers’ pain as they spoke.”
As seniors get ready to graduate and enter the next phase of their lives, the learnings from the Safe Schools Committee activities will go a long way to completing the North Penn educational process and making us think about the consequences of our actions.
