Belleville Students Stay Safe During Prom Season

As the school year winds down and students enter graduation and prom season, the Belleville school district wants to make sure they stay safe.

Next week, the school district celebrates the opening of a new organization – Students Against Destuctive Decisions. Barbara Correnti, the district’s director of student personnel services, said there are several events planned to help students make good choices in the upcoming season.

The move to start a S.A.D.D. chapter grew from a visit by two paraplegic young adults, one paralyzed in a drunken driving accident on his 21^st birthday, who told groups of students about bad decisions that left each in a wheelchair, Correnti said.

The students were sent by the Kessler Rehabilitation Institute in West Orange, she said. “Students’ reactions were ‘Wow, how could this happen?’” Correnti  said. “It was very powerful.”

The slogan for this year’s Belleville Prom and the annual Project Graduation cruise is “You Booze, You Cruise, You Lose,” she said, calling the slogan “eye-catching.”

A wrecked car surrounded by a mesh fence will arrive at the Belleville High School campus early in the morning May 21 as part of the program, Correnti said.

The video “15 Minutes” will be shown to Driver’s Education and Health Classes. The video is about one girl’s last words to her parents, while the song, “How To Save A Life” plays.

School Guidance Officials are working to select students to be part of the S.A.D.D. chapter, and they will likely come from among the district’s Peers Educating Peers students, Correnti said. The peer group helps younger students resolve conflicts, she said. 

Originally, the mission of S.A.D.D. was to help young people say no to drinking and driving, according to the S.A.A.D. website.  Today the mission has expanded to use positive peer pressure and role models to prevent other destructive behaviors and set a healthier, safer course for students’ lives, while also combatting teen violence, and teen suicide.

Some statistics from S.A.D.D. show that students who abuse drugs and alcohol are five times more likely to drop out of school. Students are also more likely to be depressed or have suicidal thoughts.