Michael A. DeMayo Scholarship Entry Becomes Public Service Announcement
One of the entries into the annual Michael A. DeMayoScholarship program has been posted as a public service announcement on YouTube. The one minute anti drinking and driving video was uploaded by Doorway Films Cinema in April of last year and so far has garnered 702 views.
DeMayo, founder of the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo in Charlotte, NC, handed out the fifteen scholarship awards for 2012 just last month. One of the purposes of his scholarship is to give high school kids a chance to raise awareness about one of the most difficult issues they face – underage drinking and driving. Students from twenty three counties across the Carolinas have the option to compete for one of the $2,500 scholarships by making a presentation about this issue. It can be in the form of an essay, a website, a brochure, a power point presentation or a video.
The subject of this particular entry video, peer pressure, directly addresses one of the main causes of the epidemic that claims so many young lives and shatters so many families. Although the very term “peer pressure” usually indicates a negative, i.e. teens being influenced to do detrimental things by their peers, this video makes the case that peer pressure can also be turned in a positive way. Peer pressure is an ongoing fact of teenage life, but kids can influence their peers not to drink and drive and save lives by doing so.
In just sixty seconds, the homemade, inexpensively produced video makes a very effective point, complete with a background “music” track and graphics. It presents the startling statistic that teen drinking and driving kills eight kids every day.
Michael DeMayo has various other community service programs that address this same issue, most notably his Arrive Alive! Don’t Drink and Drive program which is presented in area high schools. His firm also has participated in fundraising efforts for the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving. DeMayo is impressed each year by the effort and ingenuity of the students who enter his scholarship competition, and believes that their combined efforts do have the capacity to make a real, grass roots difference.
Between the dedication of the high school seniors applying for the Michael A. DeMayo scholarship and the viral nature of the internet, these presentations do indeed have the potential of being seen by many people. They certainly can make a difference. It would be amazing for teen peer pressure to turn the other way, against underage drinking and driving!
As DeMayo says, the best accident is the one that never happens!
Watch the YouTube video here.
Click here to see the presentations made by the 2012 Michael A.DeMayo Scholarship winners.
