High School Drinking and Driving

I'm choosing to argue with the subject position of myself as a high schooler...so here it goes:

In my high school, drinking and pot smoking were extremely prominent. Even after hours and hours of classes and guest speakers explaining the consequences of teen delinquency, nobody ever stopped to think twice (do they ever?). Residing in a small, wealthy suburb, drinking and/or smoking was the only thing for most kids to do to pass the time. The problem was that this suburb also gave everyone a strong sense of security and even invincibility to those within it. No one really had any concern for anything happening outside that 3x3 mile radius because everything seemed rather picture-perfect there.

On a given evening in my friend group, it was a rarity to have a designated driver. Everyone wanted to drink; everyone wanted to fit in; everyone wanted to do what their older brothers and sisters did in high school before them. I can't even tell you how many times I was in a car operated by an intoxicated underage. It's scary to think about now. But the fact is, we never got caught and so we never learned first hand what these "consequences" were that our health teachers so often preached.

Others were not so lucky. Since graduating and moving to Minneapolis, I've learned of several high school drinking and driving deaths through Facebook and other news sites. These accidents are more than tragic. Those kids will never get out of that 3x3 mile radius because of this teen ignorance I've been describing, the ignorance that thankfully did not do me in. Were it not for my current subject position--a motivated, self-sufficient college student with some sort of valid goal set--I can finally accept that ignorance. I've recognized it is almost impossible to accept said ignorance when you're in high school and the future is nothing but a distant blur. Unfortunately, the bridge between fitting in and making it out into the world might as well stretch halfway across the world. Three years ago, I was on one end of the bridge and now I'm the other end and I can't ever imagine even meeting halfway. I am fortunate to be alive on the other side; I could have very well been killed by my stupidity.