TEENS TOLD TO TAKE CARE

York Regional Police Const. Jason McIlveen wants teens to think twice
before taking that swig of alcohol or popping an ecstasy pill.

"It may be a simple charge of drug possession, but it can have a
long-standing impact on your life 10 years down the road when you're
applying for a job or trying to cross the border into the U.S.,"
McIlveen said.

"So teens in high school have really got to watch what they do and
think about the social and criminal consequences."

McIlveen, the school liaison officer for York Regional Police will be
co-hosting a forum Wednesday in partnership with Thornlea Secondary
School on Bayview Ave. and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The event, called Growing With Responsibility, precedes high school
prom and summer break, when the dangers and risk of impaired driving
become more of a reality to young adults.

"We timed it into the annual prom and summer holidays to reinforce the
message of about the dangers of drinking and driving, the effects of
impaired driving and the social and criminal consequences of doing
drugs and hopefully it'll sink in," McIlveen said.

According to MADD, two out of five people who die in road crashes
involving alcohol are 25 and younger.

More teens die each year as a result of road crashes than any other
cause of death.

Since September, Thornlea began a program called Empowered Student
Partnerships between police and students.

The forum will also give students a chance to participate in
interactive displays and a video game where teens sit behind the wheel
and wear vision goggles that simulate driving impaired.