It’s St. Patrick’s Day. The one day of the year that your kids can pinch each other and get away with it… or start a fight, but what’s new?
So, really St. Patrick’s Day is like any other day, only with a wee bit more green and a lot more alcohol.
Hopefully, your kids will surround themselves more with the former than the latter.
Especially if they’re under 21.
If you have teens you may want to think twice before letting them out of your sight tonight.
According to news reports, drunken driving incidents spike on St. Patrick’s Day to levels that nearly surpass New Year’s Eve and Super Bowl Sunday. And with the record-breaking warmth that’s blanketing the nation on this March 17th law enforcement fears that more drunks will be on the road tonight than previous St. Patrick’s Days.
So, even if your kid doesn’t subscribe to the drunk-and-awesome school of socializing it doesn’t ensure his safety when you’ve got a bunch of other wasted wackos getting behind the wheel after downing one too many Guinnesses.
It may not be your teen, but someone’s will be getting trashed tonight… at least according to Students Against Drunk Driving or SADD.
The group has a bunch of sobering statistics posted on its website, including:
*Nearly 75% of kids have consumed alcohol by the end of high school, and more than 35% have done so by eighth grade.
*Among underage drinkers (ages 12-20), 31% paid for the alcohol the last time they drank – including 8% who purchased the alcohol themselves and 22% who gave money to someone else to purchase it.
*Among those who did not pay for the alcohol they drank, 37% got it from an unrelated person of legal drinking age, while 21% received it from a parent, guardian, or other adult family member.
*In 2008, an estimated 12% of persons ages 12 or older drove under the influence of alcohol at least once in the calendar year.
*In 2008, 11,773 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
If the luck of the Irish, or just plain dumb luck finds your kids in bed already on this night defined by excessive drinking, count your blessings.
If your kid is AWOL right now, then you might consider getting on your knees and saying a prayer to St. Patrick so that your son or daughter makes it home safely and lives to see March 18th.