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own, potentially dangerous kind of "fun" if there's not a safer alternative, according to the Aliive Roberts County spring newsletter.
• The newsletter also reminds parents that it's not OK to provide teens with alcohol with the reasoning that "they're going to drink anyway." "Keep the parent pants on," the newsletter urges. "Be the wall between teens and alcohol."
• Parents should make an effort be involved in their teenager's life in a positive way.
• This includes lots of driving practice, such as how to drive on gravel or icy roads. Terry Nelson, who teaches driver education in Britton-Hecla, said he's noticed that students don't come to his class with as much experience as they used to. "I have a lot of kids that have never driven before they get in the driver's ed car. Parents have not taken time to take them out on the gravel road and drive," Nelson said.
• It also means establishing ground rules for what is and is not allowed for a teenage driver--rules such as no texting or cell phone use, and no driving with more than one friend in the car can make teenage driving safer.
• Jennifer Addis, a woman from Wisconsin who was made a quadriplegic by a drunk driver and gave a presentation to Faulkton High School students in January, advises students and their parents to create a family pledge in which students agree to make good choices, but parents agree to help the children out of danger so a bad choice (drinking underage) doesn't become a fatal choice (getting behind the wheel after drinking).
• "It's those little choices we make that can develop into dangerous consequences," Addis said.
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