What do you think?

[Darlene]

I think they went to far, I liken it to yelling fire in a crowded room, somebody is going to be hurt. I know what they were trying to do but think this wasn't the way to do it.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h...aWMugD9195NP03

[Moor]

there are other ways to get a point across than to totally traumatize these kids.
show them vehicle's, so them people who have been hit by drunk drivers, anything but telling them that their friends are dead.
now those who participated have lost the trust of those kids. and in today's society, kids need all the adults that feel that they can trust. KWIM?

[Russ]

I fully expect this thread to become a "hot topic" and expect some very differing opinions. That being said I would advise those who get offended easily to be aware.


I respectfully disagree Darlene. IF it saves 1 life or stops one teen from drinking,driving and killing someone, it is absolutely worth it. yelling "FIRE" would cause a stampede and panic.
This is a scare tactic and maybe it will scare someone into not drinking.

I wish my friend had been scared into not drinking and driving.

Do we have any MADD members here and what are your thoughts?

[Moor]

russ, i can understand how you feel.
my cousin was hit by a drunk driver. she lost both of her legs. she has to sit in a specially designed bucket, because she lost everything from the pelvis bone down. she can't sit up on her own. so i do understand.
and i do understand that these were scare tatics. but the line has to be drawn somewhere. i would have a REAL BIG problem, if they had done something like that to my kids.
there are other ways to shock people without totally messing them up like i think was done here.
plus, the kids, who trusted those adults, will have a hard time with trusting them again.

[Michelle]

I agree that this will become a hot topic here. I understand wanting to get the point across that drunk driving is horrible and stupid, but I do think that they went too far. Way too far. I would have been livid if this was done at my kids' schools.

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

Darlene, I did not even have to click on the link to know what it was all about! I saw it in the newspaper last week.

I think that they went way too far and have caused more harm and nothing good came out of it. To cause all of this stress with these kids was totally wrong of them! I even discussed this with my sister in law who is a Dr. Child psychologist out in Missoula and she agreed! They could have staged an accident like our school district does. There was no need to cause undo stress like this. i think they need their heads examined!

[Jamauk]

I'm not a member of MADD, but my best friend (known her since I was 4 yo) was killed by a drunk driver when she was on her way home from the library (studying for finals) when we were 22 years old.

I remember the phone call I got (from another of our friends) and the shock that followed. I was completely raw - for weeks. At that point, I would have paid all the money in the world for someone to tell me it was just a joke (in fact, I still would and its been over 10 years).

Knowing what it feels like to get that news (and I was in my 20's), I can't agree with what the administrators did. The teenage years are volatile enough. They didn't need this added trauma - right before graduation.

At my highschool, we had one idiot who was a year ahead of me. He was a big partier and had a brand new Toyota Celica. He totaled it in less than a month (driving while he was high), he showed up to two weeks later with another brand new Celica. Totaled that one, too. The school wanted to put HIS car on the front lawn, but his parents wouldn't allow it.

Now, seeing a random wrecked car was upsetting while I was in highschool, but seeing a wrecked car from someone I knew would've been way more effective.

As far as I know, this idiot is still alive, but I've lost touch with a lot of people...

[McD]

This is unacceptable to me.

What happens to a high school student if they lie to their teacher? They get punished. To me, this is teaching the students that it's okay to lie...if they are in a position of authority.

If I found out someone, especially someone that he is supposed to look to for guidance and advice, lied to my child in a way that caused him extreme emotional distress, I'd be livid.

[Jamauk]

At our high school they called all the kids to the football stadium. There are cars set up in the field that are from accidents and some of the kids are the actors (in the cars, laying out fake blood) The fire rescue arrive. life flight, they are explaining all the stats and what is going on to the kids. They video taped it and show it now each year but I watched it and it was emotional because I knew some of the kids in the show.
The money was donated by business as to not cost taxpayers.

Candy, I think this is way more acceptable (and effective) than lying to the children....Kudos to the highschool in your area!

[Michelle]

I fully expect this thread to become a "hot topic" and expect some very differing opinions. That being said I would advise those who get offended easily to be aware.


I respectfully disagree Darlene. IF it saves 1 life or stops one teen from drinking,driving and killing someone, it is absolutely worth it. yelling "FIRE" would cause a stampede and panic.
This is a scare tactic and maybe it will scare someone into not drinking.

I wish my friend had been scared into not drinking and driving.

Do we have any MADD members here and what are your thoughts?

I agree with what you are saying as far as prevention, but how would you feel if your children were put through that (sorry, just realizing now that you may not have kids?)? I can't even imagine the mental anguish they would feel thinking that one of their classmates was dead...and then to hear it was only a scare tactic?

What's next--showing pictures of murder victims to prevent murders?

[YankeeMom]

I would much rather teens be "traumatized" in this way...in a way that lasts a few hours than in a way that lasts a lifetime. If knowing what if feels like to lose a friend/classmate, even for only a short time, makes them think twice about drinking & driving, I'm okay with what they did.

Those kids got a tiny taste of what it's like "after" when there's no going back. I don't think that's such a bad thing.

[Russ]

I agree with what you are saying as far as prevention, but how would you feel if your children were put through that (sorry, just realizing now that you may not have kids?)?

I would most likely not feel as bad as you would if one of yours was killed by a drunk teenage driver.


Death is forever.



As Forrest Gump said.. "thats all I have to say about that"

[nuisance26]

~They've been doing these scare tactic things for years. I'm surprised the teens didn't suspect it was a punk. And now they all have proof that authority figures will lie about anything to manipulate an outcome. And remember, the 'dead' teens agree to be dead for the afternoon to send this message so equal anger should be directed at them. I'm not completely against scare tactics but teens are emotionally unstable anyway. You could have had a 5 minute skit performed by members of the class in which a student is pictured in a coffin and mourners discuss how he died followed by class discussion. I think that choosing the path of extreme emotional manipulation was an abuse of the authority they were entrusted with.~

[Neeley]

I would be so angry if this had been done to my kids. I went through this as a 14 year old and still have very vivid memories of it. It is not something I want my kids to experience, whether it is real or fake. I just really think there has to be a better way to get the point across. I cannot imagine allowing, wanting or feeling it was o.k. for my kids to be traumatized in this manner.


My story (in a not so short nutshell):
Three weeks after I turned 14 my childhood friend and (at the time) boyfriend, John, was killed by a drunk driver. It was horrible. I remember seeing him for the last time, our last words spoken to each other, visiting the wreckage site and seeing the blood stained concrete where he hit. I remember sitting with his mom on her couch and her telling me about the last things he said to her, her allowing me to go in his room and sit where he slept and her telling me how he used some of the money she had given him to buy school clothes to buy me the necklace I was wearing. It will be 21 years on August 15 and I still have not gotten over it. My son is named after him (and my dad). I promised his mom the day my daughter was born (which coincidentally was his birthday) that if I ever had a boy he would be named after John and my dad. I visit his grave site often, but not often enough. I look at his picture and tell him how much I miss him and how this world is better place because he was here, even if just for a short time. I take both of my kids there with me. They know the story, the loss, the heartache. Even if they do not fully appreciate the finality of death and how dangerous drinking and driving can be, they have an idea. They have a really good idea.

We were a small community and his death was the first experience with death for the majority of us kids. To make matters worse, the drunk driver was another one of our friends, Keith. We were hit with both sides of it. While we grieved for the loss of John, we also grieved for what Keith was going through. He has to live the rest of his life knowing he took his best friend's life. If anyone held anything against Keith, they kept it to themselves. Everyone has been supportive of him over the years, as John's parents asked all of us to not be angry with him. He attended the funeral, sitting with John's family. John's parents asked the courts to go easy on Keith. The majority of his sentence was to do talks at schools, groups and other events about his experience. Everywhere he spoke the remains of the car traveled with him.

Keith was going to take a couple of friends home from a party. John knew Keith had been drinking. He tried to take the keys from him, but Keith would not give them up. John told him that he was going to ride with him so he could make sure everyone got home safely. On the way home Keith hit a guardrail, causing an accident and throwing John out of the sunroof. No one else was seriously injured, thankfully.

Sorry this was so long. Just happens to be a topic that hits my heart pretty hard.

[Michelle]

Thank you for sharing Neeley. I can't imagine the pain you felt and still feel today.