Drunk Driving Hoax Infuriates Students

Controversial 'Scared Straight' Program Plays With Teens Emotions

(AP)  On a Monday morning last month, highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School to announce some horrible news: Several students had been killed in car wrecks over the weekend.

Classmates wept. Some became hysterical.

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.

As seniors prepare for graduation parties Friday, school officials in the largely prosperous San Diego suburb are defending themselves against allegations they went too far.

At school assemblies, some students held up posters that read: "Death is real. Don't play with our emotions."

Michelle de Gracia, 16, was in physics class when an officer announced that her missing classmate David, a popular basketball player, had died instantly after being rear-ended by a drunken driver. She said she felt nauseated but was too stunned to cry.

"They got the shock they wanted," she said.

Some of her classmates became extremely upset, prompting the teacher to tell them immediately it was all staged.

"People started yelling at the teacher," she said. "It was pretty hectic."

Others, including many who heard the news of the 26 deaths between classes, were left in the dark until the missing students reappeared hours later.

"You feel betrayed by your teachers and administrators, these people you trust," said 15-year-old Carolyn Magos. "But then I felt selfish for feeling that way, because, I mean, if it saves one life, it's worth it."

Officials at the 3,100-student school officials defended the program.

"They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized," said guidance counselor Lori Tauber, who helped organize the shocking exercise and got dozens of students to participate. "That's how they get the message."

The plan was to tell the truth to the students at an assembly later in the day. But word that it was all a hoax began to spread before the gathering. Tauber said some counselors and administrators revealed the truth to calm some students who had become upset.

Oceanside Schools Superintendent Larry Perondi said he fielded only a few calls from parents, while the PTA chapter said it had not heard any complaints. Perondi said the program would be revised, but he would not say how. And he said he was glad that students seemed to have gotten the message.

"We did this in earnest," he said. "This was not done to be a prankster."

[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!

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.
**************************************

Nothing like lying to kids to make a point. Really disgusting.

[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.

[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".

[xraytwonine]

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

[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."

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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!

[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.

[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?

[wogerwabbit]

We''re turning into barbarians.

[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...

[hedonist3]

meinnv - You and I think alike and have had the same experience. I feel sorry for the kids whose parents are so worried about their little psyches, that they won''t accept something that would serve to protect their kids from harm. As for those who are related to or who counsel kids after a real tragedy, there is a vast world of difference in being traumatized for minutes and actually having to accept the death of a peer. Good grief.

[sgtrds-e4]

As for those who are related to or who counsel kids after a real tragedy, there is a vast world of difference in being traumatized for minutes and actually having to accept the death of a peer. Good grief.

Posted by Hedonist3 at 09:01 PM : Jun 12, 2008

They were not traumatized for a few minutes, but rather for hours! What happened to them was psychological abuse and torture! Some people had better be losing their jobs after this sick hoax!

[sgtrds-e4]

All any of them learned from this is that they can''t ever trust the police or school administrators not to lie to them. They''ll never be able to trust these authorities again.

[meinnv]

Hedonist3,

Don''t get me wrong, I care about their psyches. And it is traumatic no doubt. They are at a transition phase in their lives--going from child to adult. Protected to protector.

I am sure there is going to be a long debate about this, and parents are going to get mad and want to sue. In a way, I wouldn''t blame them......

But after so long of hearing about teens drinking, driving, dying, killing others; it seems like an epidemic with no end and no solution. Nothing so far has worked to deter or curb it. Something had to be done, and something dramatic.

You are right, there is a difference between momentary trauma and lifetime trauma. They can accept being lied to, rather than the actual loss and grief. Funerals are not fun to go to, they can traumatize children beyond belief.

I am wondering how many kids really care about their friends enough to say "I would do this if only they would be back..."; wouldn''t a little better be better than a lot?

A moment of "OH MY GOD" shock; rather than a lifetime of "I miss them so much, I miss them everyday of my life, I want (friend) back, I wish it was a dream..."

[meinnv]

Sorry ignore this "wouldn''''t a little better be better than a lot". Meant to delete it

[displeased]

This prank will drive them to drinking.

[cold777]

Trying to tell a teenager not to drink almost never works, especially when its the "cool" thing to do to fit in.....something like this will teach them the dangers of drinking.

[sgtrds-e4]

Dear young ladies and gentlemen. You are about to go out into the world, so we hope you remember what we just taught you. Never trust the police! Whatever they tell you might be just a lie and a sick hoax! That also goes for any school administrator or teacher that you used to trust and look up to! They lied to you this time and a horribile lie at that, so never ever trust any of them ever again! Thank you and good luck!

[amkus3]

So I take it when the fire alarms and bomb threats start coming in it will be excused because the students were just wanting to help the counselors and administrators become more aware of the potenitial dangers. After all, they need to be traumatized to understand according to administration theory.

[patriot12436]

This has to be the sickest idea i have ever heard of. Wait ill it happens to you and see if you like it. I hope the school and the highway patrol are sues and fired. I an enragd. If this had happened to my kids, heads would roll.

[patriot12436]

This has to be the sickest idea i have ever heard of. Wait ill it happens to you and see if you like it. I hope the school and the highway patrol are sues and fired. I an enragd. If this had happened to my kids, heads would roll.

[ontheleft]

"They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized," said guidance counselor Lori Tauber, who helped organize the shocking exercise and got dozens of students to participate. "That''s how they get the message."

This guidance counselor needs to be FIRED. There are too many ''law and order'' and control freaks like this running the schools who think nothing of insane tactics like these.

[patriot12436]

MY mother called my son in the middle of the night telling him my daughter had been wounded in an explosion in Iraq. I spent a week trying to get the details including gettin my senator to check on it. After a week her top sgt called me and asked what the problem was. They had received the inquiry. He said my daughter was fine and he had her there so she could talk to me. Then last month my mother called my son at 2am again and told him my daughter was being rushed in to emegency surgery for a brain tumor. I knew it wasn''t true as i had just talked to my daughter an hour earlier. She had called her grandmother that day and told her she was going to have some medical tests done. I told my son to never believe anything my mother said again as she just likes to cause trouble wherever she can. And she wonders why i will not have anything to do with her. Yhis is the phone call or the door bell ringing that no parent wants to hear. It is tragic when iis real, but is just as trajic when it is not.

[smurfcrusher]

How generous to subsidize these students college education!

Because if I were them, I''d sue the H*ELL out of the responsible persons and the town. Have they never heard of "deliberate infliction of emotional trauma"?

Not only have they put themselves at risk of lawsuits (and I hope it happens), but they took any credibility they once might have enjoyed with these students, and flushed it down the toilet.

What a total disregard and lack of respect for the students.

[grammawhamma]

This was a horrible stunt for adults to do, no matter how good their intentions were.

Last year, in my small town, a very popular kid died in a one car accident by driving drunk a week before gradutation. Every teenager in the town attended the funeral to mourn his death. They painted their cars and car windows with memorials to him. They wore T shirts with his picture etc.

YUP, then came gradutation...the same kids vowing they would never drink and drive again after his funeral were driving drunk. Their cars still were painted with RIP Steve. Thank God no one got killed that night but they did not learn their lesson after only a week. How sad it all is.

[smurfcrusher]

I wonder how they would feel if the students told them their house is burning down, and then tell them it was a hoax so they would stop smoking.

Hitler believed the ends justified the means too... Great lesson, jerks.

[ralan40]

There are many people who think if a lie is done for the result of better behavior, its OK.
"Secondhand smoke causes cancer" and "Global warming is a recent occurance caused by mankind" are perfect examples of this behavior the media is guilty of perpetuating. But cancer is caused by numerous factors and global warming affected the Romans, Mayans, Anasthasi, and Mongolians;long before the US existed.

[smurfcrusher]

It probably never occurred to the administrators that now that they are on the kid''s s*hit lists anything they tell the kids not to do, is guaranteed a good idea.

Who would want to say "well the guidance counselor (who lied and traumatized you) says not to drink and drive, so I''ll be a goody 2-shoes". That''ll go over well with the peers !

[smurfcrusher]

ralan40, hate to break it to you, but global warming is largely a result of the Industrial Revolution, a little bit after the Roman Empire fell.

And just because George Burns lived to 100, does not mean smoking is a healthy habit ! Unbelievable.

Try to keep it on topic, ok?

There are many people who think if a lie is done for the result of better behavior, its OK.
"Secondhand smoke causes cancer" and "Global warming is a recent occurance caused by mankind" are perfect examples of this behavior the media is guilty of perpetuating. But cancer is caused by numerous factors and global warming affected the Romans, Mayans, Anasthasi, and Mongolians;long before the US existed.

Posted by ralan40 at 11:04 PM : Jun 12, 2008

====

That''s quite a stretch. You are comparing a hoax in which everyone knows the facts with two issues in which you disagree with the majority of the experts.
You left out the evils of evolution.

[ioweign]

Where are the adult(s) ??

Adult:
n.

1. One who has attained maturity or legal age.

2. Biology. A fully grown, mature organism.

adj.

1. Fully developed and mature.

2. Relating to, intended for, or befitting adults: adult education.

3. Containing or dealing in explicitly sexual: material; pornographic: adult movies; adult bookstores.

[cdfoxtrot]

What a terrible way to treat people. Absolutely shocking that the teachers and police acted like this. I hope they''re on the receiving end of lawsuits - unfortunately, that''s the only thing that''s likely to discourage this kind of bad behavior in future. And what a lesson to give to young, impressionable people - that playing a horrible prank like this is somehow acceptable. The mind boggles.

[docadams3]

My best friend lost her fiance to a drunk driver. If popping every one of these kids upside the head would cure them of drinking and driving, it would be worth every lick.

[kmccliment]

For all you libs out there in never land. How about this next time they want to do a wake up call for the kids and keep them from having a drunk related accident. Have an assembly and show extremely graphic coroner and police photos of their friend from last years class who had his head partially severed after having one to many. Then it wont be a hoax.

[michaelcook2]

This was very inappropriate! Whoever thought up this idea needs to be fired. Why didn''t other adults stand up and say this could be emotionally traumatizing? What is the matter with the staff at that school? If I were a student or parent at that school I would have a lot less respect for the staff of irresponsibile, insensitive adults running this high school!

[hissteps4u]

Get over it. They deserve it and it as unfortunate as it is even such tactics wont wqork and some will still die because of their ignorance to drinking and driving.

I worked for the Medical Examiners Office for a time and I cant tell you just how many hundred young people I have literaly picked up off the road in pieces because of Alcohol and druge and driving.

Its a useless and stupid Move but kids do it all the time and do not even realize what the consequences are. Good for the adminstration to do this for shock value our kids need it they are complacient to the dangers.

[krannawitter]

Email the school counselor here: [e-mail]

[smurfcrusher]

It''s possible to educate students without using lies. A trip to the coroner''s office for example. Or one of those movies.

This fraud, perpetuated on the students serves to enrage them. Perhaps they believe enraged, betrayed students are less likely to drink and drive? Show me the science or stop experimenting with the well-being of the students with harmful tactics of dubious benefit.

[patriot12436]

I agree a trip to the morgue or a slide presentation of the morgue could have shock value. I took a forensics class in college. I had seen enough in war it didn''t phase me but it did a lot of my classmates.

[hissteps4u]

Sue Sue Sue thats all some of you can do. What happened to the day of simply beating their *** for bad behavior? This world has become week and its children and parents lackies of the court system rather than take parenting seriously!

Long past are the days of Old when a parent can whip their child without fear of going to jail. Long gone are also the days of when they do something so dangerious and stupid that you whip their butts till they are blue---- Better that then this panzy time out and hands off system which have produced the Me Generation we now see....

[Chemjes]

Why is it OK to do to kids and not adults. Lot more adults drink and drive then in highschool.

Maybe someone should walk up to a teacher in class and tell them their 5 year old daughter was just killed in a drinking and driving accident? What if the girlfriend of one of these kids slits her wrists after she hears it? Irresponsible.

The whole drinking and driving thing is a joke. Our bars are filled with cars everynight.

Stupid adults. As an ex-police officer I am ashamed a department would do this. I guess I shouldn''t be surpised there are mentally deficient officers and school adminstrators.

Why is it ok to place INNOCENT student''s into a mental jailcell by the GOVERNMENT no less with absolutely no cause to do so? To educate them about drinking and driving? Research clearly shows they already get it.

The school and PD that ran this gig should be sued. This was mean-spirited. Is it the governments right to give innocent students PTSD?

Shame on them. They should be embarrased to be a police officer/school administrator. We should expect more from them.