Getting message on prom night

June 22, 2006 | Newsday
By Lauren Terrazzano
Newsday Staff Writer

When Suzy Cummins dances the night away to the music of 50 Cent and Missy Elliot at the Schreiber High School prom in Port Washington Friday, her father will be right there with her. Via text message, that is.

Call it a new parenting tool for the 21st century, reaching children by the medium they most relate to: their cell phones.

As part of a nationwide program, Dave Cummins is joining nearly 3,000 other parents across the United States who plan to text message their children on prom night to remind them not to drink and drive.

He heard about the effort through a friend, and then tossed the idea around to his buddies last month at their monthly poker night. Several agreed to do it.

"The message is, take care, have a great time, enjoy the prom and don't drink," said Cummins, 58.

The dads are doing the text-messaging through the non-profit Century Council, based in Washington, D.C., which seeks to eliminate underage drinking, as well as drinking and driving among teens.

"It's one of those little things that will remind teens their parents are out there thinking about them," said Susan Molinari, the group's executive director and a former Republican congresswoman from Staten Island.

She said parents can have the text messages sent to their kids by simply going onto the council's Web site, www.centurycouncil.org, punching in the phone number, date of the prom and ZIP code. The message will be sent electronically at 8:30 p.m.

Suzy Cummins, a junior at Schreiber who is attending the prom with a friend who is a senior, said she's all for the text message idea, though realistically, she said, a message alone won't stop someone determined to drink.

The movement coincides with the time of year that typically sees a higher mortality rate among teens nationally because of drunken driving. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, 713 youths under the age of 21 were killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes during prom and graduation season last year.

Dan Paisner, another father who is in Cummins' poker group, says the text-messaging is a good idea. "Any extra reminder I can get to my kid that night to keep his head about this is probably a good thing," said Paisner, a novelist from Port Washington, whose son, 18, is planning to attend the senior prom. "You can't be in their face on prom night, but you can be in their pocket."