It is always a tragedy when someone dies unexpectedly, especially when a parent has to bury their own teenager killed too soon in a car wreck. There are far too many teenagers killed in senseless accidents involving excessive speed, alcohol, or both. I think Sheriff Paxton's sessions at each high school were notable efforts to help parents and teenagers understand what can happen if they do not act responsibly.

But I do not agree with the "irrational exuberance" becoming pervasive in this county about government providing a solution to this problem. Throwing $150,000 hard-earned tax dollars to the LEADER program to try to get teenagers to behave responsibly is an effort doomed to fail, and a waste of tax dollars. While I applaud the efforts of the LEADER program, they specifically are looking at private and business donations to fund their efforts. That is the way it should be. We are not the parents of these teenagers, nor should we take on that role. This is not a government problem to fix, it is the responsibility of parents to fix it.

I would remind residents that the vast majority of teenage driving accidents (and the primary reason for the recent Sheriff's events), are single-car wrecks as a result of irresponsible behavior. The LEADER program will not cause those whose nature it is to behave irresponsibly to do anything differently. In short, this looks great politically, but will not prevent one accident from happening, nor save one life from being thrown away through irresponsible behavior.

What will save lives is better parenting. As Charlie Laughinghouse said at one meeting, you can be their friend after they grow up, but right now, you have to be their parent. Stop buying cars for your new teenage drivers. If they have no stake in buying that car, it has little or no value to them. They will take far better care of something they had to plunk $10,000 - $20,000 of their own money on. Take their keys away from them for a long, long time if they do something wrong when driving. They need to be made aware that driving is a privilege, not a right, and privileges should be taken away when teenagers misbehave. You may have to start driving them to work when they have their driving privileges revoked, or if you can't then maybe they will lose that job they got, but they will learn that their actions have consequences before they end up taking their own (or someone else's) lives. Hard lessons must be learned the hard way, but they are far better learned by grounding them, than by burying them in the ground.

When I was growing up, the first reason I drove so carefully was because my parents made sure I would pay for it, personally and financially, if I ever got into an accident. The second reason was because there was a distinct police presence in my town, just waiting to reward bad behavior with a hefty fine. Where is our police presence in this county? The Sheriff has stated that he will be enforcing the curfew for young drivers more vigorously. That is a good start towards fixing one problem. We in county government can't fix the parental problem, but we should be able to fix the policing problem. Let's focus on what will make a difference in our role of providing public safety.

If the LEADER program needs more money, I would suggest the county commission use our influence with the Chamber of Commerce to encourage their members to voluntarily kick in the cash, but not use taxpayer dollars taken by force.

David W. Richard

Forsyth County Commissioner - Post 4

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