Driving Under the Influence of Cajun Heritage in 1985: My Story + Q & A
A DRINKING PROBLEM IN LOUISIANA
BY Emily Cox, First year, Loyola University, New Orleans
For Dr. Chiasson, Mass Communication
4/12/85
The influence of the Cajun heritage in Louisiana has deeply affected our outlook on alcohol today.
Alcohol. A socially acceptable, encouraged stimulant. Is it just too bad that the tradition of beer-drinking didn't carry the necessity of responsibility with it.
Most eighteen-year-olds do not possess the proper responsibility needed in the presence of alcohol consumption. And they can do it legally. From my experience as a Louisiana teenager, I have come to know that many teenagers have had numerous experiences of alcohol consumption before the age of 18.
In my neighborhood, raids on the “Family Liquor Cabinet” were made by groups of us ranging from the age of 12 to 15 years old. The older kids were already sneaking into bars.
Our family on a multi-family summer vacation, 1977 or ‘78. That’s me in my ponytail. My brother, Barney is the tallest, to the left.
I started going to bars when I was age 15. I ran into my classmates in the months and years following. Were WE responsible? We were old enough to get our drivers license. Driving and drinking both demand a sense of social responsibility. That kind of responsibility is seldom considered by a 16 year old. And unfortunately those responsibilities too often enter the life of a 16 year old kid in Louisiana.
Photo by C.A. Miller, summer 1977 or ‘78. Our family had a lot of social support. And luckily our parents did not have substance abuse or addiction. Raising six children was beyond difficult to manage. These are my parents at a beach during a multi-family with vacation. You can see my eldest brother in his cut-off jean shorts in the background poking around on the shore.
I am only nineteen years old, but I've already been touched by 3 major accidents caused by teen drinkers.
When I was 12 my oldest brother 16, was killed in a single car accident when his best friend made a very wide right turn, right into a gully.
After a chaperoned senior party on the lake, some of my friends wrote off drinking – in a ski boat. The boat driver lost eye contact with his path for just a moment, a pylon was struck, and our friend, our classmate, was thrown from the boat. And killed.
A girl in my neighborhood was recently injured in a head-on collision with a drunken driver. Plastic surgery is not able to fully repair the damage to her face.
With a more optimistic tone of voice: There are those teenagers who abide by the law. And changing the legal drinking age to 21 will probably help decrease the statistical alcohol-related deaths because of them.
But the fact remains, Louisiana has a special teenage drinking problem. One that needs to be addressed now.
THE END
Dear Scene2Scene Readers, please ask questions on this Q&A page. Here’s my question to you, when you were a child or teenager, were you concerned about the risk of drugs and alcohol leading to possible death in car accidents or otherwise? Or was I thrust into an awareness by direct. experience? I have often wondered. Please share your memories and ideas about grappling with these “sense of social responsibility.” Thanks!
#FrenchLouisianaHeritage #TeenAccidents #PublicHealth #SocialResponsibility #FamilyMemories #SisterScene #Sister2Sister