Congratulations, seniors! Celebrate safely

As students complete their high-school career, there is much to celebrate -- the friends they have made, the things they have learned, a sense of accomplishment and anticipation of things to come.

Two school-sanctioned spring events embody that celebration: prom and graduation.

Preparation for prom night starts months ahead of the event, with choices to make such as who to go with and what colors to wear. Prom is a quintessential high school experience, and regardless of whether you have fun, you always remember prom night.

Preparing for graduation is a little more arduous; choices made when preparing to enter high school as a freshman, such as which courses to enroll in, can have effects four years on. Smaller steps along the way can also have an effect on graduation, from making sure you are meeting credit requirements to turning in extra credit to fulfilling extracurricular obligations.

Some have an easy time making it through senior year. For others, it's more of a struggle. Either way, the inclination to celebrate is a natural one.

However, choosing to celebrate by drinking and then driving while impaired can lead to more struggle than anyone should have to deal with at this happy time. According to information at madd.org, underage drinking kills 1,900 people in fatal car crashes annually. But it's not always the person who has been drinking who suffers most. In an instant, sober passengers can be killed, as can people in other vehicles, pedestrians and others. And certainly all victims' families suffer.

The good news is it's simple to avoid this suffering: Don't drink and drive. Don't let your friends drink and drive. Don't get in a car with a driver who has been drinking.

To those who wrapping up their senior year, we offer heartfelt congratulations and hope you look back at your high-school years fondly. You've made great choices so far. Keep it up.