It’s that time of the year again, when the Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) program gives students a close-up look at consequences of risky behaviour.
This year, the program will take place on May 21 at the Humboldt Uniplex. Students from Annaheim, Bruno, Englefeld, Lake Lenore, LeRoy, Middle Lake and Watson are invited, while the students from Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) and Muenster will take part on May 28.
“It’s a full day for students and really is a shock reality day for them,” said Tracey Shewciw, executive director of Safe Communities Humboldt & Area. “They’ll be going through everything to do with taking part in high-risk behaviour. There will be a mock car crash scene put together for the students to watch, during which (emergency service staff) will use the jaws of life to get victims out. They’ll have one person that has passed away and is put into a body bag and another who is seriously injured and gets put on a spine board.”
The purpose of the day is to confront students with the reality of what could happen if they do things like drinking or texting while driving. Following that, the kids are broken up into groups to attend different sessions on different types of safety, including following the path of addiction survivors.
During lunch, students will be given a disability scenario where they’ll have to eat lunch as though they’d been injured the way the scenario describes. After lunch, they’ll visit the funeral homes and talk to the coroners and director and the visit the morgue.
“To every action, there’s a risk and a consequence. It makes them think that it’s not just them that they affect,” said Shewciw. “This program is fantastic. I think the biggest thing though is making them realize that it’s not necessarily going to happen to someone else; it can happen to them.”
At the start and end of the day, the students are asked to fill out a survey so that organizers like Shewciw can see if they are changing attitudes and behaviours. Because this is the 11th year for the program, Shewciw said she knows they’re making a difference.
“We see a change in attitudes immediately and with statistics, we see that deaths are decreasing and crash rates are slowly decreasing as well,” she said. “Because they are teens and their brains aren’t fully developed, they do need to be told more than once. This program isn’t telling them, ‘Don’t do.’ It’s telling them, ‘You’re going to do, but try to be smart with what you’re going to do.’ We’re not dictating to kids at this point.”
With regards to the day itself, Shewciw it’s pretty mixed as to what the kids like the most. Some like the disability lunch, some like the funeral home visits, and still others prefer the survivor talks best. Usually though, she says the mock car crash scene is the most popular.
At the end of the day, Shewciw said they understand that young people will likely still take part in risky activities. However, she’s hoping that programs like this will encourage them to be smart about the choices they make while partaking in these activities.
“You’re going to take part in high-risk behaviour, so try and be smart about it,” she said. “Your choices affect a lot more people than what you would ever imagine.”
The P.A.R.T.Y. program is supported by different sponsors each year, so this year Shewciw extended her thanks to the Community Initiatives Fund, the Humboldt & District Chamber of Commerce, SGI, the City of Humboldt, and a few others.
