Students Against Destructive Decisions – Justice Speaks Podcast

In the episode of Justice Speaks, JSI Co-Founder David Wallace, AKA the Traffic Safety Guy, speaks with Rick Birt, CEO and President of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions).

SADD’s Focus

SADD has been in existence for over 30 years and initially it focused on drunk driving, as it had been called Students Against Drunk Driving.  However, the organization has expanded beyond that narrow focus to recognize that teens today have a variety of serious issues they have to deal with beyond impaired driving and other traffic safety issues, such as bullying and the opioid epidemic.  SADD now has three broad areas of focus – Traffic Safety; Substance Abuse; and, Personal Health and Safety.  The overall goal is to keep teens informed so they can ultimately live the rich full live they deserve.

There are SADD chapters in every state of the union and all of the territories and even some in New Zealand.  SADD is an organization of caring students who work on projects and programs in their local communities with SADD National acting as a clearinghouse of best practices and other resources to educate and support teens all over the country.  SADD National has the bottom line of letting teen-to-teen interaction change behavior and encourage increased leadership in the local community. 

Rick Birt

Mr. Birt started out as a SADD student when he was in high school.  Then recognizing the positive impact he could make beyond his community through SADD, he interacted with the Ohio Department of Safety to make a difference.  In 2014, Rick joined the national organization’s staff and in February of 2018, he was appointed as the CEO and President of SADD. 

Since then, the main offices moved from their historic location in Boston to just down the street from the White House in Washington D.C.  allowing SADD to effectively work with the Department of Transportation and the White House to increase teen involvement.  As Rick noted, SADD’s efforts have always been about the students and the important work ahead.

Traffic Safety

Distracted Driving

One of SADD’s latest efforts was a focus on Distracted Driving.  April was Distracted Driving Awareness Month.  It is concerning just how frequent teens are distracted when driving.  According to research from SADD, almost 30% of teens in the past 30 days were texting while driving, and a whopping 70% have used an app while driving.

SADD’s goal is to educate not only the teens but also the parents of teens and the rest of the community about the risks of distracted driving.  In that endeavor, SADD teamed up with a new organization called TextLess; Live More. 

TextLess; Live More is an organization that works on peer-to-peer prevention, so it shares resources and programing material at the school and community level.  But the larger message is not only about not texting and driving, but to stop staring down at a screen and live life to the fullest; to occasionally unplug from technology.

But it is important to know that traffic safety is much more than distracted driving.  It is about making the right decision in putting on a seat belt, not drinking and driving, and getting enough sleep so as to not drive drowsy.

Drowsy Driving

Drowsy Driving has become another important topic with 1 in 10 teens falling asleep behind the wheel in the last thirty days.   This issue requires parents to recognize the difference between what they think how sleep their teen is getting, versus what the teen is getting in reality.  Parents think their teen is getting enough sleep, but when you add in homework, and using technology, teens are not getting the sleep they need.   This topic also requires Teens to recognize that “sleep is not a bank account.”  They need to stay well rested or they are putting themselves and everyone else at risk. 

100 Deadliest Days

Coming soon will be information on the SADD website dealing with the 100 deadliest traffic safety days for teens: Memorial Day to Labor Day.  SADD will have resources for this push to ensure that teens and parents have the knowledge and tools to be safe while on the road during the summertime.

Substance Abuse

According to the National Safety Council (NSC) approximately 53,000 Americans lost their lives to the opioid epidemic and SADD is working to raise the awareness of the issue and demonstrate how it is affecting everyone.  SADD chapters have hosted town hall meetings around the country, raising awareness and starting the discussion.  The goal is to have a holistic community conversation; working work with doctors, schools and community leaders to have them cognizant of the facts and that there are alternatives that can be used for medications. 

SADD is also working to educate parents and how it is “typically an activity of access” where the teens have readily accessible medications at home.  It is important to have a family discussion on the proper use and the parent’s expectations on using medication.

SADD recognizes that the parents are important part of the process in educating teens.  So, it is working to involve and educate the parents as well as the teens.  For example, to remind the parents that when they drive, whether it is a teen or a pre-teen, there is another set of eyes watching them who will imitate them when they are able to drive.  In all of the issue areas, parents have to be part of the conversation.  This is true even when the teens try to push parents away.  It takes an informed parent to keep their teens safe.

Personal Health and Safety

SADD’s growth into the Personal Health and Safety focus area came from local chapters.  Teens recognized that there are other issues that also have to be discussed such as bullying, teen suicide, mental health, eating disorders, stress and anxiety.  It was the teens speaking up and saying we need resources on these vital issues.  SADD National responded and now has the information for teens. 

SADD National Conference

Each year, SADD holds a national conference that is the largest youth based prevention event in the county.  Hundreds and hundreds of students from all over the country come to the conference.  The purpose of the conference is to empower teens with the information they need, thus teens plan the conference and determine the topics and speakers.

This year the conference will be held in Tysons, Virginia (Outside of Washington D.C.) from June 24 through the 27^th with one day to be hosted on Capital Hill for a congressional briefing on impaired and drugged driving.

The overall conference is a chance for student leaders to come together, get the information, become informed and changed, and go back to share the message. 

To Learn More

Ultimately, SADD’s message is that we can learn the most on how to inform and work with teens from teens and actually working side by side with them.  To learn more about SADD, find a local chapter or how to get involved, go to SADD.org.