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."

[repcbsnews]

This brute force behavioral programming has consequences. Getting told that someone close has been killed leaves one feeling frightened, feeling vulnerable, in a profound painful state of grief. To then learn it was a trick, or a "lesson" that was a trick teaches one not to trust, also the more serious the information then more reason not to believe it. The future consequences of this lesson can be deadly. If later in life one receives warning of fire or flood to evacuate, or a bomb treat on the telephone, the automatic reaction might be "never again will I be fooled", and "better be safe than sorry, so I won''t fall for it. I won''t tell anybody because they might think I''m gullible." Doing evil with good intentions often leads to evil results.

[hunnyjnm]

I am a from Texas and I participated in this program, at the time it was called Shattered Dreams. It was at my high school and I was a junior. I completely support it and in no way does it violate any kind of rights to the students. If anything it saves lives because it gives them a wake up call that some of these people need. They take everyday life for granted and this is what they need to see. They got the well known seniors and juniors to participate and it was a really life changing experience that I will never forget. Our parents were involved and everyone who was involved got a great experience from the program. So all these students who say they feel "betrayed" need to shut up, wake up and see what the big picture is here.

[Latrocinor]

Beats paddling them.

[sawaboof]

What these officials did is deplorable.

If anyone is interested, I''ve written a blog regarding this occurrence here:

http://progressiveu.org/031016-tell-balgeary-balgury-dead-get-back-here-i-m-just-kidding

[sawaboof]

What these officials did is deplorable.

If anyone is interested, I''ve written a blog regarding this occurrence here:

http://progressiveu.org/031016-tell-balgeary-balgury-dead-get-back-here-i-m-just-kidding

[twopillows]

Boo.. freaking .. hoo. I agree with the program. It takes something like that to wake people up.

[leslie7088]

I want to see how many teens did NOT drink and drive after this. Probably none!!!! The shock was OVER when the students came back. I would have been upset that they lied to me also. But, thinking back to when I was a teen, we were the ones that could not be hurt by anything. I see their point, but it just may have backfired on them.

[texasopa]

What did these students really learn? Let''s try: lying is OK if someone thinks it is "for a good cause", you can''t trust your teachers or law enforcement officers, adults can justify just about anything..."to just save one life", and school is not about learning the three "r''s" so much as it is a place where your opinions are shaped by some political group who has the sympathy of the school administration. No wonder America is in so much moral trouble!

[slim1h2o]

What a cruel stunt. Heads should roll over this, permenatly. Meaning, Off with their heads!

Nah! Just kidding. See how that works?

It was cruel though, and shouldn''t ever be duplicated, ever.

[patriot12436]

naucoming4u
They use the same law to prosecute for people using alcohol as well as the people high on drugs. With the drug cases they are usually also charged with possession of a controlled or illegal substance.

[naucoming4u]

Drunk drivers murder thousands of people every year. What is most unfortunate is that vast majority of drunk drivers survive the accidents they create!

Drunk driving is severely UNDER punished in our society.

Get the drug USERS out of jail and into a rehab program...

...which will make room for the drunk drivers... where they should be... for a VERY LONG TIME.

[kevboom]

Hope their resumes are in good shape. Start looking...

[rafterman1]

===Is harsh, but nothing so far is working.===
Posted by meinnv

And nothing ever will. It''s a crime of human stupidity, not lack of knowledge. That program wasn''t "harsh", it was cruel.

[rafterman1]

Are they idiots aware that in some cases, especially among kids this age, some are so close to a particular friend or significant other that they have committed suicide upon the knowledge of the death of that friend? It''s rare, but it has happened.

[heero2020]

I don''t know why people are comparing this to Scared Straight. In those programs, the authority don''t lie to the kids and tell them that their friends just died. They respect the children''s intelligence enough to let them know the possible consequences of making certain decisions in life.
When you lie to me to get your point across, it shows a lack of respect on your part which creates greater distance and a lack of trust on mine.

[patriot12436]

I am shocked that the highway patrol approved its officers to participate in such an outrageous stunt. I expect heads to roll over this.

[darnedsocks]

CAN YOU SAY "CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT"!?

[grammawhamma]

Posted by meinnv at 01:42 AM : Jun 13, 2008

I like your ideas...harsh as they may be.

[floydzeppl]

This sounds like an idea a dumass Republican would think up.

[tulcak]

INCREDIBLY STUPID AND INSENSITIVE. should we also tell patients who smoke when they visit the doctor that they have lung cancer... and then, ha ha, just kidding, but we were trying to scare you out of it.
FEAR and FREEDOM are two words that can never exist together. you either have one or the other. we now live in a society that uses fear to manipulate people thanks to bush, cheney and the GOP. that''s why some think it is an approved way to operate.