Reality Check class helpful for today’s youth
Published 6:00 pm Sunday, July 14, 2019
Imagine being a teenager. You’re relatively new to driving, and you suddenly get a flat tire. There’s one problem: you don’t know how to put on the spare.
It’s an essential skill that, unfortunately, some teens and young adults may have never learned.
However, more than 40 area youth now have that and other skills in their back pocket after attending the first Reality Check class hosted by the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office last week.
Deputies showed them how to check a car’s oil level and tire pressure, how to use jumper cables, and the safest places to pull over during emergencies.
Sheriff Tony Mancuso said the class is aimed at teaching area youth essential life skills they may not be getting at home. Doing so, he said, will help them as they become adults.
Mancuso said youth who don’t get this type of instruction are “just kind of left out there to fend for” themselves. Learning things the hard way isn’t always the best approach.
Deputy Anthony Boswell said offering hands-on instructions can be more effective than simply watching a YouTube video or searching for a solution on Google.
Along with the life skills, deputies did mock demonstrations on how to handle a routine traffic stop. For young people, being stopped by an officer can be intimidating and stressful. Showing them what to expect before it happens will hopefully make the experience less nerve-racking.
Even Cprl. Carl Lanham said he didn’t know what to do during a traffic stop when he was a teen. He said the demonstrations give youth the knowledge to “feel a little bit more comfortable when it does happen.”
Teens also drove a golf cart while wearing goggles that simulated the effects of alcohol or drug impairment. Showing them the impacts of impaired driving will hopefully deter them from doing so later in life.
Not only did the class equip these youth with essential life skills and show them how to handle traffic stops, it also allowed them to interact with law enforcement in a relaxed environment. Dylan Simmons, an Iowa High School senior, said he learned that law enforcement officers are simply doing their jobs and are “actually good people just trying to help the community.”
Additional classes are scheduled at the Sheriff’s Office Training Academy, 3958 Mallard Cove Drive, for interested families and teens.
Giving today’s youth a reality check will help their transition into adulthood. Maybe one day they can pass those same skills down to future generations.
