Your classmates are dead.....ok, they aren't

[GoinAllTheWay]

www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080530-9999-lz1mc30brush.html

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.

Though the deception left some teens temporarily confused and angry, if it makes even one student think twice before getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated, it is worth the price, said California Highway Patrol Officer Eric Newbury, who orchestrates the program at local high schools.

I've been watching this thread on another forum with great interest. Many there were horrified at they way they are trying to get across the message of drinking and driving.

I'm interested to hear if you guys/gals think this was a good way, or a poor way to get people to understand.

[flylock shox]

Umm... wilful infliction of nervous shock anyone?

Probably pretty effective at getting the message across, but not very well thought out. That's just waiting for a case where some emotionally fragile little whelp has a breakdown on hearing his/her best friend is dead, and then sues the police, and probably wins.

[Gozer]

Brutal and unacceptable.

[Slava]

I can't recall (must have had a huge impact on me), but I'm pretty sure that my high school had a staged accident out in front to show us the horrors of drinking and driving.

[MarchHare]

I hate MADD so much. I certainly agree with their primary message (drunk driving is bad, mkay), but their methods are just awful. And they really ought to change their name to what they really stand for: Mothers Against Alcohol Period.

[BlackArcher101]

I'm all for it. I went through the MADD demonstrations and thought the shock and awe theory was really effective. Giving someone a book and writing a multiple choice test or watching a 15 minute PSA doesn't do a heck of a lot. If you get that image stuck in their mind however, it will be a lot more effective. Learning by simulation is still far better than just theory.

[CaptainCrunch]

I don't know if I approve of that type of messaging, especilly when your essentially dealing with kids.

This sounds an awful lot like the Hellhouse Scenario that an avangilical church used to shock kids away from drugs and homosexuality.

[J pold]

Absolutely ridiculous what if the alleged victims where your close friend or a significant other? Can you imagine the pain that person would feel, even if only a few minutes

We are so afraid of implementing physical abuse to teach kids lessons, but it’s ok to go to the extremes of physiological damage in order to teach them a lesson? Finding out someone you love is dead is the worse feeling imaginable, its like having someone repeatedly stab you in the gut. Making someone go through that in order to teach them a lesson is wrong and ignorant

[Eastern Girl]

Ridiculous. I am all for trying to find new ways to reach teens about driving and driving, but making someone believe their friends are dead is crossing the line of decency. Losing someone close to you is unimaginably painful, so this approach is just absolute cruelty. I understand that people don't seem to really get the message unless they are somehow effected by it (ie- losing someone), but I really think it's just too much.

I imagine I would have been absolutely seething if the faculty of my school/MADD, etc. had attempted something like this while I was a student.

[CaptainCrunch]

I remember when I went to high school we had to watch the adventures of Sally through the windshield glass type movies for drivers ed, we mostly laughed as they mopped up some poor smuck who was smeared over the steering wheel. Nowdays our kids are even more insensitive to this stuff. However I think the simulated car accident would have been enough without the whole death scenario.

[wpgflamesfan]

what kids would agree to do this to their friends?

[Tron_fdc]

I think they should do it on the dangers of hookers and blow. Make it all graphic 'n stuff.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I'm all for it. I went through the MADD demonstrations and thought the shock and awe theory was really effective. Giving someone a book and writing a multiple choice test or watching a 15 minute PSA doesn't do a heck of a lot. If you get that image stuck in their mind however, it will be a lot more effective. Learning by simulation is still far better than just theory.

What's phase two of this scheme?

Kid goes home to see his little sister in a pool of her own blood because she found his pot?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

I think they should do it on the dangers of hookers and blow. Make it all graphic 'n stuff.

I'd be the voluntary student who's life falls apart when he has a hooker sandwich and a pipe full of blow.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by fotze

Why bother using a classmate as the hoax, why not say their parents and family are dead, why is that over the line?

A dead parent doesn't reach the entire class... a dead classmate, in theory at least, does.

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I don't know if I approve of that type of messaging, especilly when your essentially dealing with kids.

This sounds an awful lot like the Hellhouse Scenario that an avangilical church used to shock kids away from drugs and homosexuality.

That's the thing though... kids sometimes need a hard lesson. It wasn't until my brother's teammate died drunk driving before he quit... Kids think it can't happen to them. They're invincible. I mean really... I know everyone here says they don't drink and drive, but let's be honest. You do. (I don't drive at all so no, I don't.) Even after hearing that someone you loved or knew died in a drunk driving accident, even after all the stories in the papers, etc, you STILL do it. (Not all of you, but to those who do... well they probably aren't reading this anyways, so I'm wasting my keystrokes.) Anyway, my point is that regardless of the fact that this is pounded into our brains, we don't listen. The majority of us don't listen until something bad happens to someone we love. Well, this is a way for that to happen, without it actually happening. I have no problem with this tactic.

[Traditional_Ale]

Brilliant.

I hope theres still room to make it even more traumatic.

And before anyone starts railroading me, don't make me post the picture of my brother freshly arrived at the hospital hooked up to a million tubes and machines with industrial sized staples holding his skull together.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by FireFly

I have no problem with this tactic.

The ends don't justify the means.


The bulk of your post seemed to revolve around "us" being desensitized to these problems.

I contend that telling kids "Your best friend is dead - PSYCHE!" is horrifically desensitizing, and that's before trivializing the officer's office.*

*Read: kids can now confirm that cops are lying pigs that will do anything to serve their purpose.

[Russic]

unacceptable in my eyes. I'm an extreme proponent of the crackdown on drunk driving as it has negatively affected my family, but I could never get behind something like this. Emotional trauma should never be considered a justifiable teaching tool.

I understand what MADD is doing and I respect their position, but more often then not I find myself disagreeing with their focus and tactics. From advertising to education they seem to be on board with grabbing people in the most shocking way. In my opinion this is just an excellent way to get 95% of all people to ignore your message.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

Brilliant.

I hope theres still room to make it even more traumatic.

And before anyone starts railroading me, don't make me post the picture of my brother freshly arrived at the hospital hooked up to a million tubes and machines with industrial sized staples holding his skull together.

I'm with you on this one Traddy. MADD has designed their tactics on campaigns that have run in Australia which are way more shocking and traumatic than anything MADD has done in Canada, and the Australian anti-drunk driving campaigns have been highly effective. Besides, I think people in general nowadays are so jaded and desensitized that it takes a little shock and awe to break through their indifference. And if these kids can't take a little bit of simulated trauma, they ain't gonna make it far in the real world. Life can be brutally harsh, so a little conditioning can only help prepare them for the reality that is looming in front of them.

All this exercise is is a little bit of simulated reality ... since when is simulating reality grounds for a law suit? Are we getting that feeble and fragile as a society?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Gozer

I contend that telling kids "Your best friend is dead - PSYCHE!" is horrifically desensitizing, and that's before trivializing the officer's office.*

*Read: kids can now confirm that cops are lying pigs that will do anything to serve their purpose.

Some could make the argument that kids are so desensitized already, they had to resort to this type of delivery.

I mean honestly, if kids are going to paint all police with that paint brush (lying, do anything to serve their purpose) well then, I would think that the lesson is going to be lost on them regardless of how it is presented.

Historically, I really don't think humanity learns lessons very well with passive, gentle lessons. People need a good, firm kick in the butt to get a message across these days. It's not until something becomes a serious, personal problem for someone that they get up and take notice.

As a loose example, look at our current fuel price problem. For years we have known that fossil fuel harms the environment. For years we have known that one day it would start to run out. For years we have know that one day we will have to find alternative fuels. Not until people are getting hit hard in the pocket do people start crying foul and demand a solution.