I've previously noted a few cases where extreme shock tactics were used to teach a lesson. (See
Fake Attack at Elementary School and
Fake Terrorism Drill.) The following case isn't as bad as those earlier examples, but it still comes across as creepy for officials to trick students into believing their classmate had died in order to teach a lesson about drunk driving. From
signonsandiego.com:
Many juniors and seniors were driven to tears – a few to near hysterics – May 26 when a uniformed police officer arrived in several classrooms to notify them that a fellow student had been killed in a drunken-driving accident. The officer read a brief eulogy, placed a rose on the deceased student's seat, then left the class members to process their thoughts and emotions for the next hour.
The program, titled “Every 15 Minutes,” was designed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Its title refers to the frequency in which a person somewhere in the country dies in an alcohol-related traffic accident.
About 10 a.m., students were called to the athletic stadium, where they learned that their classmates had not died. There, a group of seniors, police officers and firefighters staged a startlingly realistic alcohol-induced fatal car crash. The students who had purportedly died portrayed ghostly apparitions encircling the scene.
Comments
It sounds like this community must be the safest on the planet if the cops have time to go to schools and scare the bejeesus out of the kids.
But this sort of BS does not work. When you attempt to demonstrate the extent of a problem by making up a lie about the extent of the problem, people are turned off. Especially teens. The message people are left with is not that people die from drunk driving. But that members of MADD are crazy, have no problem with lying about the most intimate things, and are not to be trusted.
This reminds me of all the propaganda against drugs in the 80s. Those against teen drug use came up will all sorts of "facts" showing the downside of drug use, e.g., drug users killing children in microwave ovens. But because those teens who were in the drug culture knew those facts were lies, there was no reason for them to quit. And worse of all, it turned the whole anti-drug message into a huge joke.
If you honestly want someone to do something, you have to be honest.
There are surely enough real cases of students killed or injured by drunk drivers (my high school had several) that you can talk about them instead of phony ones.
The scare tactics version sounds way over the line to me, especially for high schoolers. The ends don't always justify the means. People need to consider the consequences of their actions whether it be driving while intoxicated, or emotionally scarring some teenagers.
Very manipulative, but very effective. I still have yet to drink and drive, well except for that one time when I had to drive 4 blocks after a few beers to get my really drunk friend home. But c'mon that's not too bad.
I'm an EMT with a volunteer rescue squad. In our E15M versions, we stage a vehicle accident at the high school. Yes, it includes student actors in stage blood in a drunk driving crash situation. Yes, it evokes pain, fear, and tears. But in every one of these events, after cutting apart a car to remove a trauma victim, these kids are PAYING ATTENTION to the message. They see their friends "dying" because of the stupidity of drunken driving. They get to understand what other families have to deal with every day. And they get the opportunity to talk with the victims, both real and simulated, and with their own families.
I have participated in seven such events over the last decade as part of an ambulance crew or the team extricating patients from smashed vehicles. These are carefully designed programs, specifically for teens who usually have no concept or appreciation how deadly the actions of one drunk can be on so many families. For the rescue squad members, police, fire personnel, parents, teachers, and morticians who are active participants in the "Every 15 Minutes" program, this is unfortunately often a replay of actual events that we've responded to in the past. But we do this because we know this bloody drama makes the point, and kids listen.
For those of you who feel the program relies on "scare tactics" or is "too emotional", you are absolutely right. And that's exactly what is needed to convey the absolute horror of drunk driving. We do get reports of kids who receive counselling after one of our programs, but we've not heard of anyone sustaining emotional problems from such demonstrations.
Do kids watch reality shows? This is almost the ultimate reality show. If you think it's too much to inflict upon the same age group that is often itching to get boozed up, then pretend they are invincible, I suggest this. Either be a participant or audience member of an "Every 15 Minutes" presentation (held all over the country), or wait to know pain first-hand after a drunk driver accident. Chances are, with the preponderence of DUI, most people in this country will personally know someone hurt or killed by a drunk. A large percentage of those... will be the victims themselves.
So please appreciate the E15M program. Learn about it. Contribute your time and skill to it. You'll see why it WORKS.
-a classmate