What Are We Waiting For?

Mamaroneck High School student wants more discussion of DWI incident (first published in The Globe, MHS newspaper on October 10, 2002)

by Joanna Roberts

This past Friday night at the pep rally, I was surprised to hear that certain varsity athletes who were involved in the recent drunk driving incident were being glorified by their peers. I was confused as to why direct allusions to the accident were being made in a mocking tone and why this did not elicit the slightest response from the members of the MHS administration who attended the school event. I feel that we should realize as a community how different our outlook and our attitude towards the accident would be if the result had been more tragic. We need to recognize how much we are taking for granted – most importantly the lives of community members. Being grateful that no one involved in the accident was seriously injured is not enough. If we don’t take the time to reflect upon our values, we might as well just sit around and wait for history to repeat itself with much graver consequences.

It concerns me that open discussion of this serious occurrence has not been encouraged enough. It seems as though not many efforts have been made so far to uncover information about the incident or to brainstorm creative ways to ensure that events such as this one don’t happen in the future. I feel that our community has confused priorities that will not be straightened out until we work together, teenagers and adults, to decide what it is that we really want. Do we want to protect the image of our community in order to uphold real-estate values, and to make the outside world believe that this town is a safer one than Harrison, or Scarsdale? Or do we want to take the courageous step of being honest with ourselves and openly encouraging discussion and debate about how to deal with conflicts and issues, such as drinking and driving, within our community?

Many people have raised the question: What is wrong with this generation? It is assumed that we (today’s teens) use horrible judgment, we are irresponsible, we have no direction, we can’t have fun without excessively drinking, and so on. I believe that our generation needs support, and if people feel that they want to help us, criticizing us is not the way. Yet giving support does not entail hiding incidents such as the recent DWI accident and pretending that the issue can be solved by simply sweeping it under the rug. It is so important for the community at large to realize that we, as teenagers, deserve respect. Gaining this respect can be best accomplished if our community provides a forum for open and honest discussion and exchange of ideas about topics that are meaningful to us and that affect our lives. Then, the teenage population would be more likely to realize the responsibility that comes with this respect – the responsibility to use our good judgment, to think before we act, and to make the right choices and decisions, before it is too late.

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