Westfield Students' Alcohol Awareness Video Makes PSA Contest Finals

WESTFIELD, NJ — Westfield High School students are finalists in the 2016 Prevention Links PSA Contest for their video on alcohol awareness.

Voting closes on the contest on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The PSA Contest was open to all Union County high school students. The objective was to increase understanding of the risks and consequences associated with underage drinking.

• Check out their video below:

Students Nick Calcagno, Sa’id Kharboutli, Josephine Greenwood and Luke Spellman created the video in their sophomore year as part of their TV Production class. They were able to chose the topic of their video, which they chose as drunk-driving.

"Well, us being in high school, classmates (particularly upperclassmen) are just beginning to get their drivers' licences, and as much as any parent would want to believe, drinking (alcoholic beverages of course) can be a serious problem at any kind of social gathering, whether it be a small get together, or a huge party," Kharboutli told Patch. "This means that new drivers going to social gatherings alone (without any kind of designated driver or parent) are especially susceptible to getting behind the wheel drunk, maybe because they don't want their parents to know they're drunk, or maybe they feel confident in their ability to drive."

The students created the video to "raise awareness around the school and make sure no one gets behind the wheel under the influence."

Kharboutli, who is now a Junior at Westfield HS, pretty surprised, and very happy to make it as a finalist in the Prevention Links PSA Contest.

Cash prizes are awarded to the winning schools. The winning school receives $1,000, first runner up gets $55 and second runner up gets $250.

To view the video and to cast your vote for it, click on the image entitled Video #4 at http://preventionlinks.org/vote/.

(Screenshot of video)

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