Drunk Driving = Danger

Did you know that every fifteen minutes a teen dies from drunk driving? What is even more eye opening is that most of the time the person who is drunk driving doesn’t suffer major injuries. The consequences are paid, either by the passengers or the people from the car that has been hit. Imagine living with the terrible memory of knowing that you have taken the life of someone else. Or yet, you never know if someone on the road is drunk driving and your life is at risk.

Casey Goodwin, a twenty year old college student at Cuesta Vista in San Luis Obispo, was an active teen who participated in programs such as, Friday Night Live and the California Youth Council. She was recognized as an advocate for the prevention of underage drinking all over the state of California. Not only was she committed to the prevention of alcohol but she had dreams of one day becoming a high school teacher. On March 13, 2003 Casey’s dreams and life were taken away by an eighteen year old drunk driver who hit her on the road. The eighteen year old was driving to work after he had some beers when the incident occurred. Casey was on her way to celebrate her mother’s birthday-she never made it. When her mother Lynne Goodwin arrived to the hospital that Casey was taken to she vividly remembers when the doctor stated that Casey’s bones were broken and they would need to perform surgery. Not only that but they also found that every vital organ in her body, except her heart had sustained irreplaceable damage. Casey’s brain had also, been damaged on both sides leaving her with no brain waves. That is when Goodwin realized that the doctors could not do anything for Casey and she had to accept the painful reality that Casey was gone. Casey’s funeral was attended by over 2,000 people including family members, friends, politicians, police officers, and colleagues.

The eighteen year old drunk driver did not suffer any injuries but he was sentenced to ten years in prison for vehicular manslaughter. He was driving 100 miles per hour when he took Casey’s life away. Casey’s mother wrote on the Casey’s Pledge website, “I have spent much of my professional life working for and with young people to prevent them from harm that can result from risky behavior. These young people have also included my own children. Ironically, while my children did know the harm that can result from drinking and driving they were not safe from it. It was the kid that didn’t know, that took my child’s life.” That is why it is important to be an educated teen to prevent incidents like this one.

Casey’s mother works for the Friday Night Live Chapter and she spends a great amount of time educating parents and teens about drunk driving and how she has had to live with her daughter’s death. While attending the Youth Convergence Conference in Miami, Florida in 2008, I had the honor to listen to Goodwin give a presentation about Casey. Goodwin starts these presentations by introducing Casey’s life story and slowly she advances to how her daughter passed away. But not until the very end of her presentation does she mention that she is in fact Casey’s mother. The facial expressions on everyone are unbelievable. Not only does this ending impact everyone in the room but we feel grief towards Casey’s mother and anger towards that eighteen year old for drunk driving. Tragedy’s like this one affect the family directly and everyone around them. I truly believe that stories like Casey’s should be told because it will give the listeners an urge to educate teens on drunk driving.

In honor of Casey Goodwin, Casey’s Pledge has been developed. This is a pledge where teens pledge not to drink and drive or get in a car with a drunk driver. I encourage all teens to take the pledge and to make this healthy choice. Remember, not only is your life in danger but also the life of others as well.

Here are few ways you can support Casey’s Pledge:

-If you run into a situation where you are getting into a car and the driver has been drinking call a parent, a friend, or a trusted adult to pick you up.
-Hang out with people who have a positive impact in your life.
-Don’t drink and drive.
-Take the pledge to your school and raise awareness.
-Be the person that does the right thing!
-Be safe! Stay alive!

Prison and How it Affects Us All By Intern Hannah Davis

While carpooling to work, one of my coworkers mentioned a concern she has with how there is little mental health care in prisons when so many prisoners are mentally ill. My curiosity was peaked so naturally I went to the internet to see what the current situation was for prisoners. Examinor.com claims that overcrowding is due to relapse, which accounts for approximately seventy percent of California inmates, many of which may have undiagnosed mental health disorders.

Since overcrowding is a problem, why hasn’t anyone taken the time to try and help these people get control of their mental issues? Doesn’t it make sense to spend extra time and money while they are there, in the system, instead of letting them go only to return weeks, months, or years later? Wouldn’t this, in the long run, save the taxpayers money?

Therapy and proper medication may be all it takes to help them get on the path to recovery. And yet I wonder if the small amount of time with a psychologist would be enough to really help them get better. There are so many prisoners currently in the system that people must consider how many professionals would need to be hired full time and how many hours each prisoner would get with them. Would inmates get weekly sessions, or would that be too much strain on the therapists? If the answer is yes that would be too much, then would it still be effective if these prisoners only meet once a month, or for half hour sessions every other week?

You’re probably wondering how does this topic apply to me? I’m not in jail. I’m not mentally ill.

Perhaps you are not. But what if one of your family members who has a mental illness commits a crime and while in jail doesn’t get proper attention. They may never get better and therefore continue his/her destructive pattern of violent or dangerous behavior that leads to another jail sentence. If a person is forced to participate in therapy if mentally ill, then they can start to get treated, whereas the same person in society may not seek help and quite possibly never get any better.

As I stated in an earlier blog, almost 25% of the population has a mental disorder. What if one day you develop one? Wouldn’t you feel more comfortable knowing that if your illness causes you to wind up in jail that you will be provided help? Or maybe you already have one that you think you can control, but over time your habits become harder to resist. You might feel that need to start a fire, or steal something from a store, or the voice in your head tells you to hurt someone.

Another reason is because we pay to keep our jails running. For anyone interested in fixing this part of the legal system they have quit a challenge ahead of them. People will need to convince their community that paying a little more to help those who are mentally ill within prisons is better then letting the current system continue. As taxpayers we should ask ourselves if we would rather pay a little more now and hopefully see a decrease in inmates and prices, or continue to pay a little less but never see a change. With the second option we may end up paying more in our lifetime then if we take the first option.

Plus, as a community isn’t it our responsibility and desire to help those who are in need? Shouldn’t we take care of those who may be unable to help themselves? One way I look at this is what would I want others to do if I was a mentally ill inmate who continuously goes to prison because of my disease. By putting ourselves in their place we can better comprehend the horror and need for change.

So, what can we do as a society to fix this current problem? The first step is to talk about it and start asking questions. These dialogues may lead to action, either by local government officials or someone in the community who becomes impassioned by the work. This action can eventually lead to debates about changing the legal system and providing therapy and treatment for mentally ill prisoners. If it comes to the ballots we then can vote and hopefully make our voices heard through change.

Sure, this may take a while to achieve, but isn’t it worth it if we can help even one person who is suffering from a mental disorder get better? Wouldn’t you want people fighting for your health and safety?