Mock accidents don't always hit home with teens
Nicholas Russo
Issue date: 3/12/10 Section: Opinion
It has been a tough week for residents of my hometown Norwell, Massachusetts, and especially the high school's class of 2009. My friend and fellow graduate Ryan O'Donnell was a passenger in an SUV that crashed into a tree Sunday evening. He suffered serious injuries in the incident and passed away after being transported to a nearby hospital. Police claim the driver of the vehicle, who walked away with only minor injuries, was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. He, too, graduated last year from NHS and was a close friend of O'Donnell's.
Unfortunately, this scenario has played out time and time again for high school and college students across the country. This tragedy is particularly frustrating to me because during my senior year, Norwell High's administration staged a crash that turned out to be a carbon copy of the one that took O'Donnell's life.
The entire school was gathered outside along the campus driveway while actual police and fire units responded to the scene of a mock crash. Several of my fellow classmates volunteered to participate as passengers while firemen performed the actual procedure to remove them by smashing windows and using the Jaws of Life. One student was pronounced dead at the scene and carried away in a body bag while the student's real life father looked on.
Our school's administration spent weeks secretly planning the day and no detail of the simulated crash was left out. The car even had empty beer cans inside of it to illustrate that they had been drinking prior to the accident. The student chosen as the driver was staggering, failed a field sobriety test, and was arrested at the scene in exactly the same fashion as after the crash earlier this week.
Following the mock accident, my fellow students were called inside the school's auditorium for a question and answer session with police about what they had just witnessed. After that, we were sent to our homeroom advisories to discuss in further detail drunk driving. One of the questions our advisor brought up was whether or not the staged crash would actually change student's behavior. Most of my classmates swore that no one could possibly think of driving drunk after witnessing the mock crash. I responded that teenagers tend to have a short memory about these things and I was concerned many would soon forget the lesson they were taught. Less than one year later, my fear has proven to be warranted.
Unfortunately, this scenario has played out time and time again for high school and college students across the country. This tragedy is particularly frustrating to me because during my senior year, Norwell High's administration staged a crash that turned out to be a carbon copy of the one that took O'Donnell's life.
The entire school was gathered outside along the campus driveway while actual police and fire units responded to the scene of a mock crash. Several of my fellow classmates volunteered to participate as passengers while firemen performed the actual procedure to remove them by smashing windows and using the Jaws of Life. One student was pronounced dead at the scene and carried away in a body bag while the student's real life father looked on.
Our school's administration spent weeks secretly planning the day and no detail of the simulated crash was left out. The car even had empty beer cans inside of it to illustrate that they had been drinking prior to the accident. The student chosen as the driver was staggering, failed a field sobriety test, and was arrested at the scene in exactly the same fashion as after the crash earlier this week.
Following the mock accident, my fellow students were called inside the school's auditorium for a question and answer session with police about what they had just witnessed. After that, we were sent to our homeroom advisories to discuss in further detail drunk driving. One of the questions our advisor brought up was whether or not the staged crash would actually change student's behavior. Most of my classmates swore that no one could possibly think of driving drunk after witnessing the mock crash. I responded that teenagers tend to have a short memory about these things and I was concerned many would soon forget the lesson they were taught. Less than one year later, my fear has proven to be warranted.
Be the first to comment on this story