SADD - Was this not the most genX thing ever??
Posted by tonna33@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 93 comments
Is Student Against Drunk Driving a thing anymore?
There's so much that was done with it that isn't applicable anymore. We got keychains that held quarters, so we could call someone from a pay phone for a sober ride. The fact that probably 90% of us had our licenses before we were 18, and then the big push about not driving after we had been drinking. It wasn't about not drinking. Everyone knew we were going to. Just don't drive!
Nobody needs the quarters anymore. Kids aren't wanting to drive (I still think this is crazy after reading a recent thread). Are the consequences too steep now for even being caught drinking at a party?
SometimesUnkind@reddit
This happened at the same time that seatbelts became mandatory in most states.
Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit
There’s an amusing news clip on the interwebs from the 80s where people are outraged after the state passed a law against open alcohol containers in cars. Dudes complaining about communism and they can’t have a cold road beer on the way home after a long day at the tire factory. I remember the road beer days well. And people routinely ignored the law for years until the consequences became severe. Times have definitely changed.
GypsyKaz1@reddit
It was a huge cultural shift. Before MADD and SADD, drinking and driving was very normal. "Just had a few" was considered OK to drive. So, the movements started and yes, part of the push was for parents to assure their kids that it was WAY better to get in a little trouble for drinking than for drinking and driving, so "call!" Now it's a cultural norm and people are shamed for even considering driving after drinking so we don't need the concentrated movements anymore. Everyone grows up knowing the consequences are dire.
DJErikD@reddit
Road beers were common. it’s just beer; it’s not like I’m drinking liquor!
Fluffy_Tap_935@reddit
Vivid memory, allegedly, of my parent driving me home from a bbq saying “I love Jack Daniels” repeatedly in a robot voice, drink in hand. I was bored and wanted to leave. The other adults, other parent included, sent me with him. The 80s. WTF. Lol.
And I had pretty good parents! Just not that night.
Weak_Employment_5260@reddit
I remember the morning announcements with the SADD announcement done by the one of the worst drinkers in our school. It was laughable.
GypsyKaz1@reddit
But did they drink and drive?
Weak_Employment_5260@reddit
Um..yah
OldDude1391@reddit
Yeah the guy that helped start it at my HS was busted after hs for providing booze to high school kids.
Maleficent_Fail4544@reddit
I have never driven before but I’m not from the US so I live in a country that wasn’t designed to support the fossil fuel industry, in many ways I feel sorry for my US sisters and brothers ✌🏽
R67H@reddit
Our school had a program called Safe Rides. Students could call a number and get a safe ride home from another student. I volunteered several weekends and it was actually really fun. We found out where all the good parties were, and always hit them up after our shifts were over.
crazee_frazee@reddit
LOL - talk about unintended consequences!
R67H@reddit
We even got awards for our service from the superintendent and a page in the yearbook. It was glorious.
StochasticFossil@reddit
Ours got shut down because it “encouraged drinking”.
West By Gawd Virginia.
R67H@reddit
Yea, like the Champaign glasses and beer mugs we got for prom were changed to "candy dishes" and then disappeared a couple years later
StochasticFossil@reddit
And underage drinking disappeared in the hollers just like that. /s
R67H@reddit
That'll do it, folks! All done, here.
swarleyknope@reddit
I remember this! I have a phobia of people puking so never volunteered.
R67H@reddit
I drove an early 80s bronco that was easy to hose out. came in handy a few times, and not exclusively for those drunk rides.
swarleyknope@reddit
😂 I remember my friend’s boyfriend having to hose down the outside of my car after a particularly rough night.
realsalmineo@reddit
SADD - Was this not the most genX thing ever??
Is Student Against Drunk Driving a thing anymore?
As the most rudimentary Google search (“SADD”) would have told you, yes.
MaximumJones@reddit
Our generation drinks less than Boomers. Millennials and GenZ drink FAR less than we do.
romulusnr@reddit
It's weird to see bars hawking virgin cocktails but it's like everywhere now. And 0.0 beer is on the rise too.
MTkenshi@reddit
I work with a lot of younger people, and they are not drinkers at all. They'd rather burn a joint or their weed vapes instead of drinking.
Negative_Corner6722@reddit
I think it was rebranded awhile back…vaguely remember my daughter in high school being in Students Against Destructive Decisions or something like that.
Defiant-Giraffe@reddit
I read this as "destructive devices," which means things like grenade launchers and cannons.
romulusnr@reddit
Star Simpson would like a word
dem4life71@reddit
Or cell phones
pratbert@reddit
This.
romulusnr@reddit
Thing is SADD and MADD were actually just the Temperance Society opposing all alcohol completely. The drunk driving thing was mostly concern trolling for their agenda of bringing back prohibition.
volball@reddit
I was a member of DAMM...drunks against mad mothers
RCA2CE@reddit
Against? pffft
GeoHog713@reddit
Well, kids neither drink, nor drive any more
It's still awful when it happens, but it's a much less rare occurrence
AaronTheElite007@reddit
D.A.R.E would like a word
tonna33@reddit (OP)
DARE for the millennials!
I remember my younger sister (a millennial) going to a DARE event where one of the law enforcement groups were burning some "pot" so they knew what it smelled like.
I also had a friend whose daughter told her teacher that her mom does drugs, after learning that EVERYTHING is a drug, and is bad. Because her mom smoked cigarettes.
AaronTheElite007@reddit
It started in ‘83… just saying
VioletaBlueberry@reddit
I was born 70's and it was only younger kids who had the DARE program here. Probably those born 77-78 and later. I remember because our High School band played the song 100 times while the kids at a local elementary school had a parade and sang that fucking song. Til there's a whole album!
Shirabatyona32@reddit
No, born in 73 we had it
fatyoda@reddit
I was born in ‘74 and had DARE I was disappointed when I went to parties and nobody offered me free drugs.
jdidihttjisoiheinr@reddit
This is Nick. A teen.
Don't be a butt-head.
I forget the actual words. I just remember a lit cigarette in a varsity jacket, riding a schoolbus
AaronTheElite007@reddit
I remember Butt-head, but for a different reason
jdidihttjisoiheinr@reddit
https://images.app.goo.gl/f4FDfwtqNF3rqSrE6
skoltroll@reddit
No, no. A Millennial experienced it one time. It's 100% theirs now. (/s for the Millennials)
BillHistorical9001@reddit
I was in a dare commercial. It didn’t work.
AaronTheElite007@reddit
Did you fry the egg?
BillHistorical9001@reddit
Ha. I was like five. They took us places in a group and screamed NO!!!!! Apparently they showed it before the movies.
PsychoCandy1321@reddit
Drugs Are Really Excellent.
SloWi-Fi@reddit
D.A.R.E. to get even higher
FireGodNYC@reddit
My high school parked wrecked cars from DwI’s that ended in death on the campus for everyone to see - It definitely made you think
Character_Contact_47@reddit
“This is your brain….”
Simple-Purpose-899@reddit
Victimless crimes have been expanded greatly since we were kids.
djutopia@reddit
Anyone remember the long form psa for “Be Smart, Don’t Start” with The Jets inside the kids brain like Herman’s Head
secret_someones@reddit
I always wanted a D.a.r.e. everyone had one but me
Diego_La_Puente@reddit
I belonged to D.A.M.M. back in the day (Drunks Against Mad Mothers).
forgetful_waterfowl@reddit
What about NO MA'AM
RedditIsAGranfaloon@reddit
You and Slash, huh?
Puzzled-End-3259@reddit
Same 👆
WhatTheHellPod@reddit
Enters the chat.
JoyfulCor313@reddit
I also remember the panic, but “bothered about” is the most church-language way to say something. I’m cracking up.
ShineyChicken@reddit
I remember the panic well.
TheHogweed@reddit
No. It’s not the most Gen X thing. Why would it be.
swarleyknope@reddit
Because drunk driving wasn’t considered unacceptable until the 80s in many places, combined with a drinking age of 18 which meant it was more common/easier for students to buy alcohol.
Awareness started building up in the 80s - which is when part of the GenX generation was in high school.
BubbhaJebus@reddit
It was slightly before GenX, in fact. The big changes in laws happened around my freshman year.
swarleyknope@reddit
It may depend on the state.
When I was a freshman, seniors could still legally drink, but they changed the drinking age to 21 after that.
Foulwinde@reddit
I'm later GenX and also live in KY. The push against drunk driving here was a big deal because of the Carrolton Bus Crash.
IronChefCincinnati@reddit
I love on the Kentucky side of Cincinnati now, but I’m from Radcliff and was a sophomore at North Hardin when bus crash happened. It was a surreal time around town especially for a teenager about to turn 16. Heartbreaking just thinking about all the unnecessary loss that happened to a lot of families May 14, 1988.
I have several personal connections to that bus, and 27 reasons not to drink and drive.
LittleCeasarsFan@reddit
Yeah, I’m from Cincinnati and attended UK with several survivors who were burn victims. Its crazy that the drunk driver got far less prison time than Bernie Madoff.
Upper_Bodybuilder124@reddit
I remember passing the road sign where that occurred and always wondered about it.
RoseRed1970@reddit
A friend and I once pretended to be drunk to get a ride. Of course we knew the driver.
Impressive_Climate83@reddit
I've eaten a lot of eggs. Never once had anyone try to give me drugs or sell me drugs, though. I was prepared and nothing happened :/
pondelniholka@reddit
When I moved to New Zealand I noticed all the tv shows that had drinking in their storylines always had the characters getting taxis after having even one drink or saying "Can I get a ride, I'm over the limit." Combined effort to normalize NOT driving even after just a couple drinks.
largos7289@reddit
Same with MADD don't hear much from them either.
Expensive-Vanilla-16@reddit
Now they need SADT. Students against Drunk Texting 😆
boiseshan@reddit
We had SADD but we also had a city curfew so if you were drunk and called after curfew, you were SOL
BJoe1976@reddit
Funny this popped up, I’m going to vote after work and one of the election workers is a friend from when we’re in that program 33+ years ago! Apparently she had asked Dd this morning if I was going to stop by and vote later today.
Satans_colon@reddit
I knew. DUI ATTY W/A slogan:
Friends Don’t Let Friends Plead Guilty.
Witchy-life-319@reddit
I was the secretary for SADD. It never changed anything. No one cared. We lost so many to drunk driving in my 4 years of high school.
BubbhaJebus@reddit
SADD and MADD were the driving force being changes on state and federal laws against drunk driving, so it did change things.
Witchy-life-319@reddit
But in my high school, it did not.
Puzzled-End-3259@reddit
I definitely disagree. Gen X (at least in my experience) drink a lot more than Boomers ever did
Eve_In_Chains@reddit
Every single one of my Boomer aunts except the one that has a dying liver (due to a surgical mistake not alcoholism) are alcoholics. Every thing is an excuse to drink. Funerals, weddings, lunch dates, baby showers.
No open bar is their nightmare. My uncle's funeral? What do you mean we only get 3 drink tickets?
I am a pot smoker and will have a joint in the evenings on weekends. My aunt with 2 full tall glass doored cabinets FULL of alcohol calls me a junkie.
The first thing she said to my mother after she deboarded the plane for a small reunion, where's the liquor store? That weekend they spent more on drinks for 14 people than their combined air fare
Everyone's experience is different, just thought I'd give mine 😁
LittleCeasarsFan@reddit
Among working class Catholics what you describe is completely normal. Due to medical issues my family has all cut way back, but for years whenever family got together, the drinks flowed.
lobbanisgod@reddit
I remember NO MA’AM.
moneyman74@reddit
I have vague recollection of MADD around my school, but I think I only heard of SADD from reading about it. It seemed like DARE really peaked in the mid 90s after I had left school.
reddit455@reddit
why should they.. won't be long before you don't even need mom or dad for a ride. kids get a waymo allowance (no creepy driver to oggle your teenage daughters). you don't have to pick the kids up at the dance or after the movie.
Arizona parents sending kids in Waymo cars alone against app policy
https://www.azfamily.com/2024/10/22/arizona-parents-sending-kids-waymo-cars-alone-against-app-policy/
Parents’ hush-hush back-to-school hack: Sending their kids off in a Waymo
https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/22/waymo-parents-kids-in-robotaxis/
now you put an app on your phone. that tells you if the kid is speeding, hard braking, or wandering off the pre approved routes. get a break on the insurance for good driving. (adults too).
https://www.statefarm.com/insurance/auto/discounts/steer-clear
Gen Z is less likely to have a driver's license. Here's why
https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2024/05/17/gen-z-less-likely-get-drivers-license/73678202007/
Increasing access to technology is one reason why young people are opting out of driving. Teenagers find community online and can connect with friends any time they please.
On top of increased online connectivity, ride share apps like Lyft and Uber are a common form of transportation, and some teenagers have a preference for public transportation or biking.
Here's how the generational divide plays out on the road.
crazee_frazee@reddit
I think it depends a lot on where you grew up. In the 80's, Wisconsin still allowed alcohol sales to 18 year olds, and loads of young people from northern Illinois drove to WI to drink across the border, then drove home. Someone estimated that after the bars closed, nearly 25% of drivers heading back south on the highways were intoxicated.
HandleAccomplished11@reddit
I don't think we had this where I grew up.
moscowramada@reddit
One thing that future generations have improved on is they drink less. Personally I hope the number just continues to go down. I’ve seen alcoholism in those close to me so I commend these later generations for making the right choice.
skoltroll@reddit
DARE will always be the most GenX "anti" something ever.
Parents made the program.
Stoners wore the t-shirts ironically.
SurftoSierras@reddit
DARE shirts are very popular apparel at music festivals (my kids were theirs to Coachella and some EDM events, always get the thumbs up).
airckarc@reddit
We had at my small, rural high school:
SADD
Friday Night Live (contract where your parents would pick you up without giving you shit that night)
Sober Graduation
Something from the police where they dragged some wrecks on campus and staged a horrible accident with blood and gore. Every 20 minutes someone would get call out of class and they were “dead.” The 20 minutes represented how often someone dies from DD. Cops would even go pick up parents like their kids were dead. Finally at an assembly they’d pull a kid from one of the wrecks and arrest them for DUI.
skoltroll@reddit
And EVERYONE wanted to volunteer as it meant they didn't have to sit in class.
anxious_differential@reddit
Remember "Just say no"?