SAC educates students about spring break risks

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Story by Brenna Thompson, News Editor

Student Activities Council will host a Safe Spring Break day in the lobby of the Long Student Center on Wednesday, March 9. During this entire week before spring break, SAC will display signs, posters and statistics to educate students about spring break dangers.

Director of Student Life Randy Flowers said that for Safe Spring Break Day, SAC will be passing out mocktails, or slushies in fancy cups, with facts tied to them about spring break. SAC will also be passing out sunscreen lotion and condoms.

Flowers said it is important that students are cognizant of the possible risks involved in traveling without supervision. He said most students come back without any trouble. However, there have been cases when BU students have been hospitalized or arrested.

“Not that it always happens, but it does happen to at least one of our students every year. It’s just a fact,” Flowers said.

Ally Ware, SAC social and culture issues coordinator, said that the goal is for students to be mindful of the dangers that may come with spring break.

“Students will say ‘that’ll never happen to me,’ but we want to create awareness in case a situation arises,” Ware said. “This could be as easy as putting on sunscreen or something more serious, like how to help a friend with alcohol poisoning or the events that could arise due to intoxication.”

Freshman Kena Metzger said she believes that college students don’t fully understand the potential consequences of their actions.

“In reality it happens to a crazy amount of people,”Metzger said. “Awareness is important because even if you’re not physically reading the signs, subconsciously it will sink in, and it could be a major difference in the health and safety of the students here.”

However scary and seemingly harsh these hypothetical situations may seem, according to Flowers, they happen more often than one would assume, and he wants students to think about risky behaviors prior to spring break. Some of these involve unsafe sex, dehydration due to intoxication in warm weather and travel concerns.

“We also want students to be safe on the roads to their destinations,” Flowers said. “Do you know how to change a tire? If you have a van of six people on the road and all of a sudden the tire blows out, are you really prepared for that situation?”

These are the type of situations Flower’s and SAC have discussed as they decide the best ways to prepare students in the case of a health or roadside emergency.

“We want our students to have fun wherever they go for spring break, but we also want to make sure that they are safe in whatever activities they choose to participate in,” Ware said.

According to Flowers, SAC is in no way meaning to scare students, and he wants them to be thrilled about this time away from school.

“Let’s get excited,” he said. “We’re going on spring break. Let’s celebrate that this semester is halfway over. Yet whatever we do, let’s be thinking about our decisions and possible consequences.”