Let's Be Careful Out There

Tis the season for proms and graduations…a time that his exciting and fun and filled with pride and accomplishment. It is also a time that especially for parents brings about concern and fear. Does it not seem that just about every year at this time we read or hear about a tragedy associated with a prom or graduation? It’s just a matter of the location but there will be a story (or more) about a fatal car crash that involved students or one about a party that ended on a sad note. The odds are pretty good that it will not be in this area but to be honest if not this year there will be a time that it will be right here. While nobody ever likes to think it will affect them why won’t it be your son or my daughter?

We as parents tell our teen-agers time and time again to be careful and of course they always assure us they will. But we also know all too well that decision-making often becomes cloudy during times like proms and graduations when alcohol often enters the picture. It does not matter who they hear it from there are a percentage of teen-agers who will feel to need to associate these exciting times with drinking. Again we parents would like to believe it won’t be our children but there is no guarantee because we can’t be with them all the time. All we can hope is that we’ve instilled in them the belief that sound decision-making is more important than peer pressure.

Part of being a teen-ager is making mistakes and learning from them and as adults we’ve been there before and have made some of the mistakes our children do. But we not only want to limit those mistakes we want them to simply be associated with growing up. Somewhere over these next few weeks you will hear about a story in which the youngsters involved do not get a second chance and you will feel terrible for their families and wonder how they will deal with the pain. That’s why when the kids go out the door we’ll say “be careful” and pray they take those words to heart.