Comments on: Drunk Driving Hoax Infuriates Students

Controversial 'Scared Straight' Program Plays With Teens Emotions

[dnc4evr89]

this is about the sickest thing ive ever heard of.....and yes i have kids.......my wife and i have taught them that if they ever drink........they can call us anytime no matter what and yes they are in high school...

[wogerwabbit]

We''re turning into barbarians.

[meinnv]

Perhaps if these kids are traumatized, they will not put others through the same trauma by drinking and driving. It is sad to have to stoop so low to lie to them. But when nothing is working, what else is there left to do?

What might be more traumatic is this thought--

How many are going to remember this lesson come grad night and summer vacation when the alcohol is free flowing and in constant supply?

[meinnv]

Thank you, Hedonist3.

I lost a friend shortly after graduation to DUI, same as my mother did some 25 years before me.

There is no go backing when it happens.

[sgtrds-e4]

This was one of the sickest jokes I''ve ever heard of! All the school administrators and the cops should all be fired at once! My wife is a Psychiatric RN for LA County and one of her jobs is to counsel students when there has been a tragedy at their school. She''s the first to say how damaging psychologically damaging a fraud like this is on these students. I hope the parents sue the school blind!

[cyberus-2009]

If a parent emotionally traumatized a child like this CPS would be on them like a duck on a junebug.

But since it was cops and school officials its A-OK. BS!

[susanhelit]

Many of them don''t learn from photos - they''re sure it cannot happen to them. Maybe something like this is the way - but not for so long. They shouldn''t have let the hoax go for longer than a few minutes. Enough to realize this could be real, the reality of death.

[hedonist3]

ToolMangler and meinnv - well spoken. These are seniors about to graduate -- not five-year-olds. They should calm down, truly absorb the feelings they experienced and rejoice that it wasn''t real. So they were lied to; big deal. They''ll get over it. The lesson they should learn is, however, invaluable and that just might keep you parents from having to attend a funeral shortly after a graduation.

[meinnv]

I wouldn''t like being lied to either. Of course I would be upset, angry and let down.

Then again, as soon as I found out my friends were alive, no matter what the "miracle" was, and I could hug them again and see their faces, I wouldn''t ever drink then get behind the wheel. I would remember that feeling of pain and loss; then the joy of seeing my friend.

Their friends are alive, and they have a second chance to make sure it doesn''t happen. They have a second chance to tell everyone--DON''T DRINK AND DRIVE.

I am sure those who have lost loved ones in a DUI accident wishes their loved one would walk through the door and say "hello" again.

[lhwrites]

When people hear of the death of a loved one they almost always deny it can be real. But over time they learn to accept it. By inducing such a severe shock, then undoing it, I have no doubt that the ability of these kids to ultimately deal with loss has been impaired. The counselors involved in this horrible exercise should lose their licenses. The first rule of medicine is, "Do no harm."

[xraytwonine]

well, you kids'' emotion is as valuable and real as the MTV culture you so submit yourselves to; keep it real

[meinnv]

When nothing else seems to work, perhaps it is time to get creative. I do not like lying to anyone, but sometimes you don''t have a choice. The kids of today are harder headed when it comes to listening and learning.

Videos don''t work, especially when kids sleep through them, photos don''t work since what/who they are looking at is meaningless or has no connection to them. Visitng morgues do nothing since the person is someone they don''t know and is dead so they do not view the body as a "person".

If more students would not be so hard-headed or irresponsible to think "It won''t happen to me; One drink won''t hurt anyone; I know my limits; Only a loser can''t handle it" then this wouldn''t be necessary.

But the kids are not learning "the easy way". Sometimes the "hard way" instills the lesson and it "takes" to their minds, hearts & brains.

Perhaps this will save them some life-long pain down the road and they will remember back on this as "how did I feel when....".

The last time (insert friend)''s DUI death was announced it was a hoax, let''s make sure it doesn''t happen for real.

They might just say on graduation day--"Think before you Drink".

[kansas1946]

Fortunately, these kids are voting age or soon will be. The lesson they should really learn from this is the way not to be abused is use their power at the voting boot.

[kansas1946]

A few hours and many tears later, though, the pain turned to fury when the teenagers learned that it was all a hoax - a scared-straight exercise designed by school officials to dramatize the consequences of drinking and driving.
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Nothing like lying to kids to make a point. Really disgusting.

[peach652]

Schools have been showing videos of accidents for decades. It''s not working.

I think it''s a shame that there is even a need for teachers and officers to try to instill values in kids that THEY SHOULD BE LEARNING AT HOME.

[toolmangler-2009]

Every year and at every graduation students are warned about drunk driving by every teacher at every school. Every year and at every graduation Funerals almost always accompany shattered family''s and friends of the results of not getting the message across to every one of the beautiful young people that have been loved and cherished all their lives and finally set free to begin their lives as adults. While I don''t recommend this particular method of awareness generation to become a standard, I feel that if it succeeds in saving even one student from an early departure from this life, then it was worth the effort.

[meinnv]

Although I think it might have been in poor taste, perhaps if they remember what happened to them when they heard the "fake" news, they won''t want it to be real.

I think they learned an important lesson though, they themselves said "Death is real". Maybe down the road this will serve as a reminder. Do not drink and drive--DEATH IS REAL. You can''t take it back after it is done.

Some people do not understand what they are told or choose to ignore it, thinking it won''t happen to them. Well, now they can reflect back on this, and make sure it doesn''t. Some people do have to learn the hard way.

Would they have preferred the news be real, would they have preferred their friends be dead? Or are they grateful to have had a chance to experience loss without actually losing someone? Now they know the consequences of their reckless actions and have a "second chance" to make sure it doesn''t become REAL.

[dmhphils]

Great! Now we''re lying to the students....the ones they are supposed to learn from are telling deliberate lies to the students. The ones they should be able to trust are now lying to them. Great logic. What moron came up with this idea?

Just show them the truth if you want to make an impact on their minds and hearts. Show video or photos of drunken driving accidents with mutilated bodies laying on the road.....the images will make the point....but don''t lie to them. Good grief!