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Explore each episode:
Episode 1: Stranger Danger
Episode 2: Driving
Episode 3: Cheating
Episode 4: Discrimination
Original Series: Bullying
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
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I am still watching this - it's almost half over - but so far I am FURIOUS, mostly at the parents who seem very BLASE about this. I will tell you, as a mother who lost her only child at age 18 because of another teen's reckless driving, and experiencing the absolute cluelessness of the parents of that other teen, they need to get a shakeup. Make EVERY ONE of those parents and kids have to hear personally from someone who has had to kiss and hug the cold, stiff body of their child. I was VERY strict with her about driving - when she started driving, I told her she knew I had a big mouth and I would tell EVERYONE I knew to watch out for her car and if I heard even ONE remark about her driving too fast, recklessly, etc. I would pull her license myself and the thing was, she knew I meant it. These parents just don't appear to get it! And I can't tell you how many middle-of-the-night calls I got for a ride because she would NEVER have gotten into a car with someone who was under the influence. Obviously things can still happen, but take this seriously - kids AND parents PLEASE!!!! I would give anything to have that kid make a different choice than the one he did in those couple of seconds - I might have my daughter back! WAKE UP PEOPLE!!
I am so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine the pain.
Cindy - so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine. Constantly talk to my kids about making smart choices and about their friends needing to do the same. I also tell them if their friends aren't doing so they cannot keep getting in cars with them. Driver's licenses are a double edged sword...love the freedom it gives them yet hate it at the same time because of the worries that come with it.
Thank you Sharon. We try very hard to remember how blessed we were to have Meg for the 18 years we did. The night she died my husband and I just looked at each other and said, "You know, at least she knew every single day of her life she was loved." That's what made it so hard watching these parents just step forward and cry and hug these kids when they did such stupid things. We were VERY hard on her about any transgressions where she or someone else could be hurt or killed, NO EXCEPTIONS, but she never doubted we loved her. I shouldn't have gotten so emotional in that first post, but I was so frustrated by the touchy feely way these parents were handling things, their little smirks, the "oops" attitude - as I've said to many high school kids, "No mother should EVER have to kiss and hug their child's cold stiff body." We even got the kids around here a tool - if someone's driving stupid tell them you want to get out of the car - if they won't stop, tell them you're going to puke all over their car - that works EVERY time - lol.
Cindy, I feel deep anguish on your behalf. I cannot even begin to imagine the horror. I'm very angry too watching this --- at the end they are all congratulating each other and their daughters --- but their kids let the "drunk" get in the car and drive away to perhaps kill some innocent person on the road. If he was too drunk to drive those girls, then he was too drunk to drive at all, and the girls should have stopped oif spoken up or hollered for some help. If their parents were really to be "proud" of them, then they failed because their daughters still let a "drunk" get behind the wheel. Nobody mentions that they let him drive away. I guess the producers felt that standing up to the drunk was too much to ask. Am I my brother's keeper, is the question that ALL of them failed.
It is cool not to txt n drv! As a 19 year-old I know how important it is to stay "in the know" and connected with my friends. As a professional race car driver hitting speeds of over 100 mph, I understand how important it is to stay fully focused anytime I’m behind the wheel. People die because they think they can multi-task while driving. But, driving requires your hands, eyes and mind working together in order for you and others to be safe on the road.
In May of 2011 I announced a partnership with AAA South to develop a new national public service campaign: Stay Focused – Keep Your Mind on the Road! As you may not be aware of, nearly 6,000 Americans are killed by distractive driving each year; that is 16 people per day! Through this partnership AAA and I educate motorists, especially teens, about significant risks associated with distractions while driving and help develop solutions to improve safety on our nation’s roads.
I ask everyone to take the pledge to Stay Focused! Be cool, DNT TXT N DRV! To pledge visit my website at www.michaelcenziracing.com
I am also watching this right now and I feel that the experiment is faulty in that one factor isn't being considered. The moderator says that the teens feel pressured by each other to get into the car with drunk driver. Even though that may be true, there is also ADULT pressure in that the fake "producer" has designated the driver and seems not to listen to the hesitant kids about going with that particular driver. This brings up the question as to whether these kids would have made a safer choice if not for the pressure by the fake producer. In that case, another question to answer is whether kids feel free to thwart adult authority figures when that figure makes a choice that can endanger their lives. This goes beyond just impaired driving. Do they have the courage to withstand adults who make faulty decisions across the board.
THANK YOU!!! Sharon Cullars, thank you for bringing this point up. You have just pointed out the error in Dateline's segment. They haven't proved that these kids are recklass, they have proved the kids follow instructions from authority figures given a controlled setting.
This has been studied time and time again back to the Milgram experiment:
Long story short: People are VERY likely to follow instructions, even those that go against their morals, if they are told to do so in a controlled fashion. The students were instructed by the producer on what to do, and even if it didn't "feel right", the producer knows best so they did as they were told.
Shame on you Dateline! You are leading millions of viewers down the wrong path, and inserting false anxiety on the parental / child relationship!
@ CindyB04574 I am so sorry for your loss! it has to be VERY hard for you. Parents needs to step up.
Thanks Maggie. It has been almost eight years but this show is making it seem like it was just yesterday. Seriously, I don't think these parents have a CLUE! Or if they're just acting "cool" because they're on TV, I don't think they are doing any justice to this issue. Until this happened to us, it never occurred to me what a big deal it was because we were SO strict about these things - and we stuck to it! These parents just remind me of the parents of the boy that was driving the car she was in - and there were two girls in the back seat who have been affected for the rest of their lives. And he and his parents still seem absolutely clueless. Oh well. I need to calm myself back down - but I so wish they did a follow-up show and had the kids and parents have to talk to someone who's lost a child OR work in an emergency room every weekend for a month.
A follow up show would be a great idea. The problem is when people like you and me are strict about this sort of thing, we get beat down and criticized about being too tight. These teens have no consequences and they know the parents will not do much. You are in my prayers!
The last test with three girls was not the same situation. Girls are much more aware and as a group without a male influence they think more clearly. Had you tossed a male into the mix I feel the outcome would have been different as females usually look to a male for leadership.
Kudo's to Dateline for running this episode! As a father who lost a wife and daughter to a reckless teen driver 12 years ago I can say that main stream media needs to do more stories like this since car crashes are the number one killer of all teens in America. I for one turned my loss into my life work and run a non profit organization that educates both teens and parents on making the right choices when they get behind the wheel of a car. I sure hope many parents with teen drivers watched tonights program and I hope that they will take the lessons taught tonight to heart before their heart get broken becuase their teen gave into peer pressure. Thank you Dateline for all that you do and thank you for doing my story several years ago with Keith Morrison. Bruce Murakami www.safeteendriver.org
Bruce - sorry for your loss. I wish programs like yours came to all high schools or driver's ed programs. I have four kids, three of them licensed drivers and the fourth about to be. As parents we can drill it in to their heads all we want but I think programs like yours are much more effective because we all know mom and dad don't know any thing! (We thought the same thing at their age!) Will be checking out your website. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss but I thank you for taking the time to educate people because of it and I hope it has helped to save others.
I just saw half of the segment on teens getting into a car with someone who is either on drugs or drunk and feel that the test was unfair to the teenagers involved. I am not a teenager, in fact about sixty years from it but I don't think these kids were given a fair chance. First, the situation was that they were told they would be going someplace for a purpose. Second the keys were handed to the person who had been smoking pot or drinking without giving the others a choice as to who should drive. These actions put the situation out of the control of the kids and they felt they had to go and had no choice in the matter. Perhaps whoever set up the test could have done a better job.
As a teen I am fully aware that I am vulnerable to distracted driving because social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are a primary way of staying in touch with friends and it’s very tempting to utilize these mobile apps and texting instead of staying fully focused on the road ahead.
As a professional racecar driver, hitting speeds of over 100 mph, I understand how important it is to stay fully focused anytime I’m behind the wheel. People die because they think they can multi-task while driving. But, driving requires your hands, eyes and mind working together in order for you and others to be safe on the road.
Last May I partnered with AAA, The Auto Club South Traffic Safety Foundation and travel the state of Florida talking to my peers about how a few seconds of inattention can lead to life-long devastation. Distracted drivers take their eyes off the road an average of 5 out of every 6 seconds. At 55 mph, that means a texting driver travels the length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the road. I enjoy keeping up with my friends, but when I’m driving, the text or call can wait. It’s not worth my life.
Please BE COOL, STAY FOCUSED! DNT TXT N DRV. Visit my website to sign the pledge, www.michaelcenziracing.com
Michael - as a mom to four kids, two in their twenties and two teens, I wish more kids were like you and "got" it. Every day I go over with all of my kids the rules of no texting, no talking on cell phones, never drinking and driving and never getting in a car with someone who's been drinking or doing drugs legal or otherwise. They all know no matter where the are, no matter the time, call home and their dad or I will come and get them no questions asked. I get the eye roll and the "oh Mom" every time I give the speech but I tell them their lives, their friends lives and the lives of every one on the road matter! My youngest two are not home but this show has been recorded so their father and I can watch it with them to reinforce the message! We will also be visiting your website!
On another note, I also felt the setup to the kids was unfair because it seemed they felt the had to go with the driver because the producer gave the keys and told the one kid to drive. Still I kept wishing they would have the smarts not to get into the car. KUDOS to the last group of girls who were smart enough NOT to get into the car!!
Why were the teens laughing? This is not a laughing matter. In real life the teens could end up dead or in a hosplital. They need to think then act.
I agree with you that the teens should not be laughing. However, they don't have the maturity to handle situations very well. I am more upset with the parents. There was only one parent, an African American woman, who seemed to have any authority in her voice about the drinking and driving test. The rest of them were all just hugging and kissing their kids and crying. Come on parents! Until you take this quite seriously, your kids won't. Don't wait until they have an accident and someone is either seriously injured or killed before you realize how seriously you should be taking this. They are your children, NOT your friends.
The last situation with three girls was not the same. When you put three girls together they are smarter and come together. Throw a male into that situation and I feel they would have followed as girls tend to look to a male for guideance. They certainly want to be noticed by the male. In the other mixes you had a male and two females so the mix was different.
Why are the teens laughing? This is not a laughing matter. I don't think they realize what is at stake. Too many teens die do to drinking and texting. Think!
Please see this powerful video that was produced from my daughters High School. Scroll down to shattered dreams to see the video. It is very difficult to watch, however, it is a reality. Several agencies participated in the production of this video.
Great program, but I thought the problem wasn't really whether the teen would get into the vehicle with a drunk driver, it was the peer pressure and the fact that teens have a problem with snitching. My children basically grew up on a military installation, I really did not have to worry about peer pressure because all the children have one thing in common, a parent was in the military and the mom usually stayed home, but my last duty station was different, I knew I was going to retire and had to finally buy a home off base and my biggest concern was peer pressure. It did not take long for peer pressure to raise its head in my household and it was a constant battle. But the one thing I did get through to my two boys was do not drink and drive, and don't every get into a situation where you have too. I know my boys drank but my oldest did not like it and became a designated driver. Even today as adults my boys know better and still use the designate tor driver rule. Teach your teen to be a leader, know what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong, and never cave into peer pressure.
I would be as concerned with the kids eating the ice cream as it may contain drugs that may impair there judgment or even render them unconscious, making it easy for someone to snatch the kids.