FACE TO FACE: Are 'dry grads' a good idea for getting kids to celebrate safely?
In high school, a lot of my friends used to spend their Saturday nights getting wasted and their Sunday mornings puking into a toilet. They did it because they wanted to fit in, wanted to rebel against their parents or for whatever reason. But that wasn't my scene, I was pretty straight-laced.
That's why I was grateful to have a dry grad: a chaperoned, alcohol-free after-grad party. Ours was a lot of fun. We had a casino, sumo wrestling and even some dancing. It gave me an opportunity to celebrate 13 years of school without the peer pressure of alcohol or drugs.
I'm sure such a party was a godsend for my parents as well. I don't have any kids of my own yet but I can't imagine the stress and anxiety that parents must feel on grad night of all nights. Your kid is out there until the wee hours of morning on a night where teenagers traditionally partake in risky activities.
We all hear the horror stories of drinking-and-driving accidents on grad night.
A recent report from California claimed that "by far" the highest number of teen drunk-driving accidents happen on graduation night. I don't see why that would be any different in British Columbia.
I also understand that there are a lot of kids who aren't going to go to a dry grad, that some of the cool kids are going to think it's lame. Last year, my friend's daughter was in that category. So what my friend did was have a safe grad: a party at his house where his daughter and friends were allowed to drink alcohol.
"I knew they were going to drink," he told me. "I'd rather have them be drinking in my house where I know they won't be driving around."
I can't blame him for that.
Your high school graduation is supposed to be one the biggest moments of your life. Certainly, there are always going be the kids who want to let loose, drink and take risks.
But there will be fewer of those kids if you have dry grads for kids like me and safe grads for kids like my friend's daughter.
Congratulations to the class of 2013.
Andy Radia is a Coquitlam resident and political columnist who writes for Yahoo! Canada News and Vancouver View Magazine. He has been politically active in the Tri-Cities, having been involved with election campaigns at all three levels of government, including running for Coquitlam city council in 2005.
