High School Graduation Season - A night to remember!
I was driving past our local high school this morning and I was thinking about what a great time of the year it is. For high school seniors there's the anticipation of walking in the graduation ceremony, plans of what they'll be doing during the summer, and of course where they will be heading in September. And, of course, attending high school graduation parties over the summer.
For you parents of graduating high school seniors I’ll share a first-hand observation of what you DON'T want to see happen after your child or any of their friends exits the party.
Just the Time of the Year – high school and college tragedies
When I was 18 there was one of those types of tragedies that we're all saddened by. One of our classmates, Allen, was a passenger in a car driven by his friend, Geoff. Just two kids with their futures ahead of them having fun. It’s been so long (45 years) that I don’t recall the exact cause of the accident. I don’t know if alcohol was involved or if it was speed, a loss of concentration or a combination of all three. The country roads in upstate NY can be pretty unforgiving. Geoff was the driver, Allen the passenger. Allen didn’t survive. Families and lives were forever altered in that moment.
Slow Ride (Take it Easy)
Out of curiosity I performed a Google search, and I came up with a number of articles (ironically, even one of my earlier LinkedIn posts came up, as I've written on this topic before). There was one in particular from a law firm that I thought was worth referencing. Here's the link:
One of the key takeaways was this section:
WHAT ARE THE DANGER ZONES OF DRIVING?
Teens have many danger zones as young drivers. The top 10 danger zones for teen drivers are:
This list might have been assembled with teen drivers in mind, but these really apply to all drivers. When it comes to teenagers, graduation and driving I wouldn't discount anything on the list. However, I think there's something about the euphoric nature of knowing that you're graduating, feeling more adult-like, and that leads to a loss of concentration. Mix in a little alcohol and you have a real recipe for tragedy.
Closer to Home
June 19, 2021 - My wife and I were sound asleep around 2:00 am Saturday morning when we were awakened (actually, my wife was awakened - she had to wake me up) by a loud crash right in front of our house. We rushed to the window to see a late model four door sedan that had crashed into our son's car that was parked on the street in front of our house. Apparently, two young people in a sedan came around the corner a little too fast, were allegedly "looking down at the radio", and didn't look up until they had rammed right into the rear end of my son's car. The car was hit so hard from behind that the right front wheel was driven right up onto the curb, blowing out the tire, and causing enough damage that my son's vehicle ended up being totaled. Their vehicle didn't fare too well either. Fortunately, the two young men were okay. They were shaken up, shocked and apologetic for what had happened (they kept apologizing for waking us up-an odd reaction for sure!). If you're thinking that the party the kids came from might have served a few adult beverages, it's possible you are correct. At least that was the assessment the police officer had made.
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Public Service Announcement
I've seen a number of proud parents on LinkedIn sharing the accomplishments of their recent high school and college grads. With their whole lives ahead of them the sky is the limit for these young men and women. Parents, please make sure you are accessible (phone or text) when your children are attending these parties. As a dad it broke my heart that these two young men needed to get in touch with a loved one (at 3:00 in the morning), and it seemed to take forever. Your kids may be 18, high school graduates, and ready to take on the world, but let's pray that their ride back to your house isn't courtesy of a police cruiser. It's been three years now, and I wonder if these two young men learned anything from this "night to remember".
Have a great weekend!
Dave
About David Shultis
For the lion's share of my career I have been a B2B marketing and product management professional. Currently I am redirecting my efforts towards opportunities that will allow me to provide experience in marketing, product management, customer service, inside sales, content writing, office administration or whatever else an organization may have a need for.
When not in pursuit of my next opportunity you can find me biking in and around New Jersey (or other states), as well as trying to get my walking in with a 15k step goal each day.
Photo(s) of the week.
Here is a collection of pictures of antique cars that appeared at a car show - in 1959! My dad took pictures at this car show in Saugerties, NY on July 5, 1959 and had them developed into Kodak slides. I shared them with a Facebook group called The Hudson Valley, but I thought a few of you might find it interesting to see what a classic car show looked like 65 years ago.
By the way...some of you music savvy folks might recognize that I like using song titles as paragraph headings. This week I picked out three. Below are the answers to "Guess the Artist"
Financial Executive | Finance Transformation| Director of Financial Reporting | Leader
5 个月Great topic and excellent writing! Unfortunately we all know someone who never made it to college because of a poor decision of their’s or those of others. Please talk to the young adults around you, it could save a life. Looking back at some of horrible choices my friends and I almost made between 17 and 22, I realize how lucky we were that one of us usually had enough sense to convince the others to be rational. Hopefully the recent graduates in your life are fortunate enough to have great friends like I did.