Updated on: 11/11/2019
MADD Washington volunteer Mischelle Davis was interviewed this morning by Elisa Jaffe and Mark Christopher of 570 KVI Smart Talk Radio’s “Smart Talk Mornings” show. They discussed the “100 Deadly Days of Summer” and the problem of under-age drinking. The ‘100 Deadly Days’ starts Memorial Day weekend and runs through the end of Labor Day weekend.
The 100 days between the start of the Memorial Day weekend and the end of the Labor Day weekend are often referred to as the ‘100 deadliest days of the year’ due to the huge spike in motor vehicle crashes and the larger portion of those collisions that involve impaired driving.
Car wrecks are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens and one out of three of those collisions involve alcohol. An average of 422 teens die in traffic crashes during each of the deadly summer months as compared to a monthly average of 363 teen deaths during the non-summer months.
Mischelle also talked about MADD’s Power of Parents, It’s Your Influence® program which offers research-proven strategies to help parents keep their children safe from the dangers of underage drinking. The program gives parents tips on how to:
• Begin talking together about alcohol.
• Listen to your teen’s concerns respectfully, and use positive parenting techniques.
• Discuss short-term and long-term risks of underage alcohol use.
• Help your teen plan how to deal with social pressure to drink alcohol.
• Work with other parents and community leaders to make and enforce policies that keep alcohol away from underage youth.
• and much, much, more.