A Bit to Far

A school in CA recently decided it was a good idea to have a police officer come into the school to tell the kids that numerous friends of theirs had been killed the previous night by drunk drivers. This was done in attempt to "scare kids straight" when it comes to drunk driving.

Before I go on, I want to make it clear that drunk driving is dangerous and often results in tragedy. Within the last 2 years two kids from my hometown were killed by drunk drivers. One, after recently graduating and learning he was accepted into the Air Force, was hit by a drunk driver and killed. The other was in a car with someone who was driving drunk, the car crashed and he was killed. While I was much older than these two kids, I know the loved ones they left behind, and know that scars were left that probably will never heal. Drunk Driving is not something that should be taken lightly, and not something to be joked about. At the end of the day, this school played an elaborate joke on it's student body.

That being said, while I appreciate the effort of the school to try and limit the amount of teenage drinking and driving that takes place. I feel they took measures that were much, much to far. At no point should you ever tell a group of teenagers that their friends and classmates have died. While I am not about babying the youth of the world, teenagers are fragile individuals, and something like this could have permanent effects on them.

If you wanted to have a scared straight program, I am sure there are numerous individuals in the community who have been hurt tragically by drunk driving. People who could come in and share their stories and their pain. You don't need to lie and tell a school of 3,100 that 26, yes 26, members of your student body were killed by drunk drivers.

Anyway, the story is here