Teens learn about the dangers, consequences of alcohol use

Andrea Zapcic said the images she saw Wednesday afternoon were shocking.

But despite their graphic nature, she’s glad she did see them. The 17-year-old Nipigon-Red Rock District High School student said it’ll make her think twice before making stupid choices, especially when alcohol is involved.

Zapcic and her classmates spent the day at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, taking part in the three-year-old PARTY program (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth).

“I found it very shocking and really graphic, but it really opens your eyes to see the risk of alcohol abuse,” she said.

Unfortunately the message doesn’t always get across to teenagers, who often think nothing bad will every happen to them.
Zapcic said she knows her peers think that way.

“We’re not fully developed yet and we think we’re invincible when we’re young and we can do anything,” she said. “But you can’t.”

Classmate Aidan Harvey said he wasn’t sure what to expect from the presentations, though he did figure he’d be learning about the consequences of making poor choices with alcohol.

It was an eye opener, he said after the presentation.

“I’ve learned a lot of the dangers and consequences that can come from making a silly or dangerous decision and how that can affect your life and everyone around you,” the 17-year-old Grade 12 student said.

On hand to deliver the message home was regional coroner Michael Wilson, who’s seen first-hand the tragedies that alcohol can cause.

It’s all about giving the teens a real-world understanding of just how quickly – and badly – things can go wrong.

“I talk about people who have died after drinking and swimming or drinking and falling down a cliff or drinking and being involved in a motor-vehicle collision or drinking and suicide,” Wilson said. 

“All of these things are more likely to occur after the consumption of alcohol, especially among young people.”

Organizer Shonath Kajorinne said the program, which in the coming years will be translated into French and filmed to allow teens in remote communities to access the information, is all about letting youngsters know there are right and wrong choices out there.
The goal is to ensure that most make the right ones each and every time they’re faced with them.

“We try to equip them with information to make smart choices. Essentially they are walked through trauma in this program. The police speak with them about the legalities of drinking and driving and we talk about the impacts they’re going to have if they make poor choices both legally, physically, emotionally and in all other ways,” Kajorinne said.