Westlock drinkers might notice something special about their liquor packaging this holiday season, but while the custom-made illustrations might be coloured with cheer, their message is deadly serious: don’t drink and drive.
The bags are part of an Alberta-wide contest run by Students against Drinking and Driving and the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. In it, Grades 1-12 students are tasked with designing a message or image to help prevent drinking and driving.
The program has been a good fit at Eleanor Hall School. Although this is the school’s first year participating in the program, student reception has been positive, said Michelle Savoie, a Grade 9 teacher at the school.
Students in Grades 5-9 have all completed their bags for the year, and some of what they’ve learned even ties in with health class information on substance abuse and gambling.
“When they become adults, I want them to make good choices. Hopefully by not just hearing about it, but being involved in this, they’ll realize that someday they have to make those choices and be able to make the right ones,” she said.
Rebecca Kutz, a Grade 9 student at Eleanor Hall, explained how participating in the program helped her realize that drinking and driving affects everyone.
“When you drink and drive, you put yourself at risk and when you put yourself at risk, you’re putting everybody else’s lives at risk.
SADD focuses primarily on educating high school students about the dangers of drinking and driving, but the program was expanded to include elementary students to accommodate demand from younger budding artists.
“We found that a lot of the high schools ended up partnering with a local elementary school. Everyone can decorate bags, so we decided to make it available to everyone,” said Arthur Lee, a community liaison with SADD.
Kennedy Paulson, a fifth grade student at the school, designed a bag that showed a pair high-fiving near a crashing automobile.
“They think it’s going to be OK, but it’s not because they could be seriously injured or killed,” Paulson said.
“Don’t drink and drive or you’ll end up on the naughty list,” added fifth grader Thomas Kolotyluk.
The program originated in rural areas of the province, Lee noted. Since starting in 2012, the campaign has ballooned to include over 250 schools and has distribute 60,000 bags.
“It’s towns like Westlock, Camrose and Drayton Valley that helped start this campaign. Drinkers in rural areas have further to travel, less options when it comes to taxis and less access to public transit. There’s a whole host of challenges in rural communities that makes them a priority,” he said.
Savoie agreed with the importance of education, especially at rural schools.
“For some of these kids, they kind of thought the message was don’t drink. They had to get the idea that people are going to drink, but when they choose to, they shouldn’t be getting behind the wheel,” she said.
And, according to Lee, the message is getting through to consumers, too.
“You don’t get anyone that doesn’t look at the bag. We get a million different marketing messages everyday, but when someone gets a hand-drawn, personalized message from a student in their community, they’ll stop and absorb that message. It’s has a lot of impact,” he said.
