Nationally, SADD has 10,000 chapters, but locally, a shortage of student participation created a problem that ended Bloomsburg’s struggling club. ­Now, some students would like to see SADD return.
Originally founded as Students Against Driving Drunk in Wayland, Massachusetts in 1981, SADD educated students about the effects of driving while intoxicated. Twelve years ago, SADD expanded its mission to prevent other perilous activities along with drunk driving and now calls itself Students Against Destructive Decisions.
Student apathy claimed the Bloomsburg chapter. “I think [SADD] is always a good thing to have, but you have to have students that want to participate in it and do something with it,” says guidance counselor Tammy Mrozek. “Some kids just want to be involved in something to say they’re involved in it but don’t want to do any of the work that’s behind the program.”
Mrozek advised the high school’s last SADD organization, and it only had one project called Grim Reaper Day. For one school day, a select number of high school students painted their faces white and could not speak with anyone to show the statistical significance of teenage alcohol-related deaths.
Mrozek ended SADD one year after she took over as adviser because it only had 14 members, which was not enough to complete any major projects. “The students didn’t really want to do anything with it,” says Mrozek.
However, some students believe the high school should have the program. “I think [SADD] is really important because I think that if people our age realized ... how much people drive drunk, they would be really alarmed,” says senior Jocelyn Wright.
In areas with SADD, teenage alcohol-related crashes have been reduced by nearly 60%. “If we started this program, maybe it would prevent further accidents from students drinking and driving,” says sophomore Tyler Dalious.
Over 65% of alcohol-related crashes cause at least one death. SADD not only helps students but also the community in decreasing the overall number of fatal accidents. “I had a family member die by being hit by a drunk driver. I don’t think people realize how much of a deal it is,” says Wright.
The existence of SADD at the high school remains in students’ hands. “It’s good to have people willing to point out that … this is a problem, and it’s still happening. There are still drunk drivers who are killing people and teenagers dying with alcohol abuse and things like that, but [SADD] has to be student run,” says Mrozek.
Reported by Andrea Fronsman