I grew up in a very small mining town called Snow Lake, Manitoba. I think the population sits now at less than 1,000 (though that fluctuates with the activities at the mines). Not a lot happens here, but when it does, it hits everyone.
A few years ago, a teenage boy, aged 15 I believe, died in a snowmobile accident. The details are horrific, so I will not share what I heard. But how he died was not as a result of snowmobiling alone. Keeping in mind that the information I received is all 2nd or 3rd hand, what I heard is that he was out partying on the lake. Alcohol was involved. It was dark outside, and he decided he needed to head back into town. He drove his sled straight into a rock cliff. It's a very, very tragic story, and though I did not know this young man personally, his family is well known in the town, and my thoughts are with his family.
There are a few details here that may make some of you shake your heads. For one, he was young, and not of legal age to be drinking. I'm not going to get preachy here; I also drank sometimes as a youth. Most anyone who is familiar with sledding, will understand that drinking and sledding do not mix. The whiteness of the snow on the lake can make dips and grooves hard to see and navigate. Generally, you're not fastened onto the sled, so if you hit a rut the wrong way, you can easily fly off. Anyways. take into consideration that it was dark. And he wasn't the only one out there. This could have happened to any one of them.
Here's where my personal conflict lies - it seems that very few kids have taken this experience to heart and learned from it. Kids are still acting invincible, testing their limits. What's worse, is that many parents in the town aren't putting tougher restrictions on their kids. That bothers me. Someone lost their child; do they not fear that this could happen to them, too?
I hear stories about parents letting their kids party in their homes, even providing the alcohol, and worse, leaving them alone, totally unsupervised. Not sticking around to make sure that these kids don't drive home intoxicated. Or worse, trying to navigate their way home in -30 degree celsius temperatures, in the dark.
One time, I went out to a party, got drunk and stayed out very late. My parents didn't know where I was. My mom called the cops to go find me. At first, I thought they were being a nuisance. But in that confrontation, my brother told me he and a friend were out looking for me, thinking I might be dead in a ditch somewhere. That really hit home for me. My mom and I found a meeting ground here - she lightened up on her strictness, and I considered her feelings. No more disappearing for a party; I would make sure she knew where I was. And I actually cut down on my partying. My friends didn't give me a hard time at all; if memory serves, they were all pretty cool with it. I found peace at home, and peace of mind.
I want to know why these parents aren't being honest with their kids, with themselves.
This young man isn't the only one to lose his life. A couple years earlier, a girl was killed in a snowmobile accident (not alcohol related). A few years ago, two young men were killed in a car accident driving home from work. And a young girl took her life recently. All of these losses are a lot for their families to deal with, and it's truly heartbreaking.
I was a lucky teenager. No one was killed. I did lose a friend to suicide a year after I left home; that affected me enough to be conscious of difficulties and struggles in life.
Parents of Snow Lake, if you are letting your kids get away with what could potentially end up ending someone's life, you need to smarten up, fast. The town police need to get involved, fast.
In retrospect, I am very thankful to have had a mother who was tough, who made it very clear to me that she was the parent, and I was the child. Her controls and reasons behind them very possibly saved my life, and those of my friends. I am also thankful to have grown up with a wide range of people, some of whom were involved in TADD (Teens Against Drinking and Driving) - knowing that there are peers who don't drink, but they're still "normal", possibly lessens the pressure all teens feel to party to excess.
Wake up, Snow Lake, before another life is lost.
