Safe Socialising
By: Juno Barrett
Our year was called to the McAdoo hall last two classes on Thursday 6thSeptember to listen to two guards from Kilkenny speak to us about safe socialising. They showed us a power point presentation with slides and a few short videos. They covered topics such as underage drinking, road safety and cyber safety.
They told us some surprising facts, such as; people under the age of 18 are not recommended to have any units of alcohol and it’s illegal to be drunk in a public place in Ireland. They also showed us how alcohol can make people more aggressive than they would normally be. They proved their point by showing us real footage of an assault of an American taxi driver when he politely asked a drunk man to leave the taxi because he was too drunk to give directions or an address. They reminded us that when we are drunk, we may not remember anything we do, but we could still be arrested for it.
They told us that we should plan a night out before we go, and always have a backup plan in case something goes wrong. The guards told us a true story about a boy from Kilkenny who was punched in the face once and fell onto the tarmac where he hit his head and later had multiple strokes in the hospital. The ambulance was delayed and took 17 minutes when it should have taken 3 minutes because crowds got in the way. The guards reminded us about how important it is to step out of the way of an ambulance because it might have a huge effect another person’s life. They also told us that if we are planning to have a night out then we should always have a way to get home. They gave us an app to use to make sure a taxi driver had a licence. They also showed us some road safety adverts warning us against drunk driving, speeding and not paying attention to the road.
They told us that things that we post on our phones stay there forever, and told us not to ever post anything that we wouldn’t stick up on a Supermac’s window. They reminded us that it’s a crime to send nude photos of anyone under 18. They also reminded us about trying to keep your friends safe when they’re with you on a night out. They told us that a person can’t give consent when they’re under 17, drunk or threatened.
The guards covered a lot of topics that were relevant to us, and I think that the presentation made an impact on our year.