MADD And Nationwide Kick Off THINK.Prom Program With National Vi

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Teens Encouraged to Pledge to Safe and Sober Partying During Prom


It is prom season and time to THINK about that special date.Mothers Against Drunk Drivings (MADD) THINK.Prom program,which is nationally sponsored by Nationwide Mutual InsuranceCompany (Nationwide), asks students to pledge to be alcohol and drug free during prom.

THINK.Prom is part of the THINK. year round, alcohol useprevention program launched last fall by MADD and Nationwideto empower students to pledge to be alcohol and drug free allyear. The peer to peer, accountability program providesconsistent, positive and lifesaving messages to young peoplewho receive many inconsistent messages about alcohol from friends, siblings and even parents.

For the first time this year, high school students can enterthe THINK.Prom Video Scrapbook Contest. Keeping the PartySafe. Party Sober theme in mind, students can submit a videoup to two minutes in length starting February 22 through April2. The winning student will receive a $500 award and the students school will receive a $1,000 award from Nationwide.

The THINK.Prom video contest is a creative way students canshare lifesaving messages and encourage their peers to thinkabout their choices, said Bill Windsor, Nationwide associatevice president of Safety. Teens use technology as a way ofcommunicating with one another and listening to one another.We view this as an opportunity to showcase their work whilepromoting a fun prom without alcohol. Everyone wins when students have a safe, sober and memorable prom.

Statistics show that traffic deaths among teens during typicalprom season weekends (March 1-May 31) are higher than anyother time of year. In 2005, 290 young people ages 15-20 werekilled in alcohol related crashes of those 198 deaths involved a 15-20 year old impaired driver.

We cant stress enough that the choices students make todayaffect their world tomorrow, said Glynn Birch, MADD nationalpresident. We want to encourage teens to make a pledge toparty safe and sober at prom so they can remember every detailof one of the biggest nights of the year. We are askingstudents to make a promise to each other leave alcohol out ofprom, never ride with someone who has been drinking and tobuckle up. We are proud to work with Nationwide to provide theTHINK.Prom program because young lives shouldnt be cut short due to alcohol.

Students can receive a number of rewards for making goodchoices including free Napster downloads, text messaging,screensavers and cell phone wallpaper. Schools participatingin the THINK.Prom program receive a pledge pack that includesa giant pledge signing banner, individual pledge sheets, apowerful DVD to show in the classroom or to an entireassembly, artful awareness posters, ID cards, event hand stampand giveaways such as penny stickers, party mints andrear-view mirror tags. Schools also receive safety posters for spring break and graduation.

Alcohol is the No. 1 drug problem among youth killing moreyoung people than all other illicit drugs combined. More than6,000 young people die each year due to alcohol-related causesincluding traffic crashes. In 2005, 2,035 15-20 year olds werekilled in alcohol related traffic crashes. Of those, 1,387youth aged 15-20 died in crashes involving a 15-20 year old alcohol impaired driver.

THINK.Prom Video Contest Rules
The contest runs from February 22 through April 2. Studentscan upload their video entries at the video service Web siteof their choice. The winner of the video scrapbook contestwill be announced in early May and will receive a $500 cashaward from Nationwide, and will be featured on thethink.madd.org Web site and in the THINK.Prom 2008 schoolassembly DVD. The winning entrants school will also receive a$1,000 cash award from Nationwide. Students must first reviewand accept the official contest rules at think.madd.org before submitting their entry.

For more information on the THINK.Prom program, video contestor materials, visit think.madd.org. To download the broadcastquality video news release (VNR), sound bites, B-roll andaudio news release (ANR), please go to http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/madd/26893.

About MADD
MADD has a long-standing history of supporting safe choicesamong today' youth in schools and in communities. MADDs inschool education and prevention programs for elementary tohigh school students include Protecting You/Protecting Me,multimedia assembly shows and class packs, Youth In Action,AlcoholEdu for High School and Red Ribbon week materials. MADDalso works with young people, law enforcement and the entire community to limit alcohol access to youth.

Founded in 1980, MADD' mission is to stop drunk driving,support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underagedrinking. MADD's Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving calls forintensive, high visibility law enforcement, mandatory ignitioninterlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, development ofadvanced vehicle based technology and community support. MADDis a 501(c)(3) non-profit, grassroots organization withapproximately 400 affiliates and 2 million members andsupporters nationwide. For more information, please visit www.madd.org or call (800) GET MADD.

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