Scare Tactics Used to Teach Kids

[deloriagod]

Do you think it's right to use scare tactics when teaching kids about subjects such as sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc?

 

 

 

I'm 100% against using scare tactics to teach kids. As a kid I was taught things (in school, mind you) like:

 

 

 

-Drugs are all the same (marijuana is as bad as cocaine)

 

-Smoking cigarettes is a guarenteed death

 

-Sex was shown as a bad thing and we were guarenteed an STD if we tried it

 

-Marijuana would cause:

 

--Testicle shrinkage/becoming sterile

 

--Completely messed up life

 

--Death

 

-Alcohol could kill you unless you were of legal age to drink it

 

-Etc

 

 

 

I think things like this are actually bad to teach kids. Why not give them the truth and let them make informed choices? Imo, kids are bound to make worse choices if they're given false information. I think of it this way:

 

 

 

-I've used marijuana and using the information I was given in school, I could have done cocaine and gotten the same effects and it would have been just as dangerous.

 

-If that information was true, I should be dead many times over

 

-Given kids false information and having them find out otherwise in the future leads them to not trust people of authority (teachers, parents, etc)

[Evaluate]

Just because something bad didn't happen to you when you did Marijuana doesn't mean something bad won't happen to someone else. There are several kids at my school that smoke Marijuana, and they're completely messed up. They've been in and out of jail for using and possessing an illegal substance, getting in fights, and so forth. They're failing school, I won't be surprised if they drop out within a year. I'm going to bank on those things being a result of their drug usage.

 

 

 

As for point one on your list, I think what your teachers were trying to say is all drugs are the same in that they are bad for you, not that they all have the same affects on your body.

 

 

 

Point 2 is also true, as after a long enough time of smoking, you will build up so much tar in your lungs that you can't breathe. I wish it wasn't true, all of my 5 uncles smoke, and they will all die of something related to smoking, be it heart failure, some type of cancer, or one of the other numerous diseases and complications that come from smoking.

 

 

 

And for points 3 and 8 on your list, I think you either misinterpreted what they were telling you, or you a grossly exaggerating those claims.

 

 

 

I wouldn't refer to these as scare tactics. I'd call it the truth, or very much close to the truth. The truth is scary, but it's the way things are.

[deloriagod]

Just because something bad didn't happen to you when you did Marijuana doesn't mean something bad won't happen to someone else. There are several kids at my school that smoke Marijuana, and they're completely messed up. They've been in and out of jail for using and possessing an illegal substance, getting in fights, and so forth. They're failing school, I won't be surprised if they drop out within a year. I'm going to bank on those things being a result of their drug usage.

 

 

 

I know a lot of people who smoke marijuana and they do very well in school, don't get into fights, and have never been busted/been in jail. 18 million Americans smoke marijuana, and I don't see all of them losing their jobs, going to jail, or dropping out of school. You're right though. Just because something bad didn't happen to me, doesn't mean it won't happen to someone else. Though, if used responsibly, bad things are far less likely to happen.

 

 

 

As for point one on your list, I think what your teachers were trying to say is all drugs are the same in that they are bad for you, not that they all have the same affects on your body.

 

 

 

No. What they were saying is that all drugs are the same. It's common sense that taking drugs is bad for you, that's not what we were being taught.

 

 

 

Point 2 is also true, as after a long enough time of smoking, you will build up so much tar in your lungs that you can't breathe. I wish it wasn't true, all of my 5 uncles smoke, and they will all die of something related to smoking, be it heart failure, some type of cancer, or one of the other numerous diseases and complications that come from smoking.

 

 

 

My grandparents smoked for 45 years and they're fine. If tobacco is as bad for you as they want you to think, how can it remain legal? I think it's more gov't propaganda.

 

 

 

And for points 3 and 8 on your list, I think you either misinterpreted what they were telling you, or you a grossly exaggerating those claims.

 

 

 

I did not misenterpret them nor am I exaggerating.

 

 

 

I wouldn't refer to these as scare tactics. I'd call it the truth, or very much close to the truth. The truth is scary, but it's the way things are.

 

 

 

So telling kids lies that will effect their future decisions is the truth? I think you're very misinformed.

[Riku3220]

i had to tell every 4th grader in an elementary school that having emphysema was like breathing through a stirring straw :wall:

[deloriagod]

i had to tell every 4th grader in an elementary school that having emphysema was like breathing through a stirring straw :wall:

 

 

 

Ah, I remember that. Not only were we told that but they gave us stirring straws, made us run around for 5 minutes, then told us we could only breathe through the straws. #-o

[Riku3220]

i had to tell every 4th grader in an elementary school that having emphysema was like breathing through a stirring straw :wall:

 

 

 

Ah, I remember that. Not only were we told that but they gave us stirring straws, made us run around for 5 minutes, then told us we could only breathe through the straws. #-o

 

 

 

wow exactly like i made them, the thing is i know emphysema restricts your breathing passages but not to where it feels like your breathing through a stirring straw!

[magekillr]

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/06 ... 07ee0f.txt

 

 

 

They're rubbish.

[Evaluate]

Though, if used responsibly, bad things are far less likely to happen.

 

 

 

I agree with you on this. Medicinal Marijuana is a good thing in my opinion, but there's a reason Marijuana is illegal, and that's to stop people from abusing it, or attempt to anyway. The key word is used responsibly. The people you know, who use, are quite different than the people that I know, who abuse. The few ruin it for the many. If everyone used it responsibly, I'd say sure to making it legal, but everyone doesn't, and bad things happen, that's just how it is.

 

 

 

My grandparents smoked for 45 years and they're fine. If tobacco is as bad for you as they want you to think, how can it remain legal?

 

 

 

Sorry to say, but though they may look fine on the outside, I can say with fair certainty that they aren't so fine inside. It's not the tobacco in the cigarette that makes it bad for you, it's the additives. If you ever Google the ingredients found in cigarettes, you'll find that they are also used in common things, like nail polish remover, drain and toilet bowl cleaner, and most commonly known, rat poison. I don't mean to sound like a teacher preaching to you, but this is also the truth.

 

 

 

So telling kids lies that will effect their future decisions is the truth? I think you're very misinformed.

 

 

 

I never said telling lies to children is a good thing, I said telling them the truth is a good thing. If I told a kid the things on your list, I would certainly be lying to them. Those things aren't the truth, but they are close to it. If i added or removed a couple words from most of those lines, they would be the truth. If you really are quoting them word for word, then it's quite possible your teachers meant to say something else, it just came out wrong. Not all teachers are teaching these things, but in fact the one or two word different variations I just mentioned. Those are what I've learned.

[Lenticular_J]

I can understand using scare tactics for a lot these days. But not everything, particularly not sex and alcohol and such. It'll just make us get into it earlier and more - I know. My family is very open with things like drugs and alcohol and cigarettes, so I'm actually able to make my own choices. It actually helped me, smoking was nasty in my eyes, so I probably won't even try it again, I've always disliked the average beer, and marijuana just doesn't do much for me. I do have to say I don't mind snuff or chewing tobacco. Just don't do it much, it'd be an expensive habit.

 

 

 

There've been some scare tactics used at my schools. But in elementary school, where I'd think they'd be heaviest, the school was too poor to afford any actual programs. :twss:

[deloriagod]

Though, if used responsibly, bad things are far less likely to happen.

 

 

 

I agree with you on this. Medicinal Marijuana is a good thing in my opinion, but there's a reason Marijuana is illegal, and that's to stop people from abusing it, or attempt to anyway. The key word is used responsibly. The people you know, who use, are quite different than the people that I know, who abuse. The few ruin it for the many. If everyone used it responsibly, I'd say sure to making it legal, but everyone doesn't, and bad things happen, that's just how it is.

 

 

 

 

You're right, the irresonsible people are part of the reason it's not legal. Not to mention part of the illegalization was racist and another part was the Vietnam war.

[Lenin64]

Fear is sometimes a necessary measure in order to maintain control. Not really here, though. Or at least it isn't done right. The methods used now just make kids want to try it more, and give vague, far-into-the-future threats, like early death. Immediate treats will work better; don't smoke or I'll kill you now instead of "don't smoke or you'll die earlier than normal". Even better if the threats weren't empty. But the current system sucks for this purpose.

 

 

 

But anyways, inspiring fear is not the best solution for these situatuons, as stated above.

[anonymous1234]

Lenin's scare tactics are ones I can believe in! :thumbsup:

 

 

 

I actually believed the emphysema thing up until this thread, but the rest of the stuff is rubbish. Marijuana causing testicular shrinkage? Ell Oh Ell =D>

 

 

 

Although smoking cigarettes isn't guaranteed death, it still is very bad for a person, and I think that tactic might have been for the better if it was explained with more truthiness.

[look_its_rob]

I think scare tactics are somewhat a necessity for young kids. At such a young age where a 2nd graders mind is yet to be completely molded, leaving even the slightest bit of leeway by saying "smoking weed isnt that bad" could be costly. Obviously weed isnt very dangerous at all, but you cant say that its healthier to smoke it than not to. For that reason they lie and exaggerate in order to get the point across: you shouldn't smoke.

[Sbrideau]

They tried to scare us when I was in school, but never have I heard excuses like the one you said, especially the shrinkage. I say it is necessary in today's world to scare, but at least there should be truth in the lie.

[ember3579]

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/06/15/news/coastal/oceanside/z76463115747f27cf8825746a0007ee0f.txt

 

 

 

They're rubbish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This... This is one of the single most disgusting things that I have ever seen a United States school do. The "people" who done this should be flogged on national television for this [cabbage]. They have no clue what it is like to hear that someone you care about died, then be told a short time later that it was all a hoax. Remember that Sago mine fiasco? Kind of like that, only with the life and death part of the story reversed.

 

 

 

I can also say with authority that if they were to try that in my neck of the woods, the offending parties would bleed for it. The people in here do NOT take things like this lightly.

[Ginger_Warrior]

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/06/15/news/coastal/oceanside/z76463115747f27cf8825746a0007ee0f.txt

 

 

 

They're rubbish.

 

The page isn't actually loading for me. I'm presuming it's some form of scaremongering?

 

 

 

I think most young people actually think through the illogical nature of the lies themselves. If you're told as a youngster that if you smoke one [bleep] (UK slang for a cigarette) you risk developing emphysema, and then you see adults smoking and not appearing to have anything wrong them, you'll soon put 2+2 together and realise you were spun into believing a whole load of BS.

 

 

 

Same goes with sex ed. If you tell youngsters they'll catch an STI or make someone pregnant without a condom or abstaining, and then they run off to high school, hear about their classmates' adventures and notice the girls ain't growing a lump down below, they'll just believe they can have unprotected sex without ever getting infected or risking a pregnancy.

 

 

 

Sadly, I'm in a minority who realises I was scared to the point of gross exaggeration, but still believe such responsibility over my own actions is a good thing, rather than swinging to the other, irresponsible extreme.

 

 

 

If people were actually given the ability to make an informed decision, instead of having the decision made for them as soon as they come out of the womb by the education system, the government might actually find people have the responsibility and the sense to not smoke or have sex without protection.

[Lenticular_J]

Well, I definitely believe in scare tactics being used with unprotected sex. Of course, my view is probably biased by the fact that my town has one of the highest rates of STDs in the nation. I ain't getting the clam.

[magekillr]

Hmmm...really?

 

 

 

Lemme try and find another source of it, it's quite possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever seen when it comes to the American way of educating children about alcohol...

 

 

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=5005097&page=1

 

 

 

That work?

[DerekZoolandah]

I think things like this are actually bad to teach kids. Why not give them the truth and let them make informed choices? Imo, kids are bound to make worse choices if they're given false information. I think of it this way:

 

...

 

Make informed decisions? Are you crazy? Drugs ARE bad. Alcohol IS bad. The only one that you might make an "informed decision" about is sex. Otherwise that's it. Why would you want to make a desicion to do drugs?

 

 

 

I don't think I expressed this the way I could've. I hope you get what I mean ..

[magekillr]

I think things like this are actually bad to teach kids. Why not give them the truth and let them make informed choices? Imo, kids are bound to make worse choices if they're given false information. I think of it this way:

 

...

 

Make informed decisions? Are you crazy? Drugs ARE bad. Alcohol IS bad. The only one that you might make an "informed decision" about is sex. Otherwise that's it. Why would you want to make a desicion to do drugs?

 

 

 

I don't think I expressed this the way I could've. I hope you get what I mean ..

 

 

 

Great, but you don't have to LIE, and that's what scare tactics do; they twist truth, and throw it into a soup pot full of lies, and stir it with a lying soup ladle.

 

 

 

Take Reefer Madness: scare tactic, and they lied.

 

 

 

Means never justify ends....especially when you put such a stigma about said topic.

 

 

 

Prescription drugs aren't bad, or are they? They cause more deaths than heroin, coke, meth, and any other illegal drug combined, yet schools don't educate about those...why? Because they're THEIR drugs.

[Ginger_Warrior]

Well, I definitely believe in scare tactics being used with unprotected sex. Of course, my view is probably biased by the fact that my town has one of the highest rates of STDs in the nation. I ain't getting the clam.

 

You're presuming the scare tactics actually work. In my experience with the people I've grown up with, they sure as hell don't.

 

 

 

Lemme try and find another source of it, it's quite possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever seen when it comes to the American way of educating children about alcohol...

 

I suppose the real question is: Did it work?

 

 

 

Action is needed to stop people drink-driving or binge drinking at the end of the day.

 

 

 

The only problem I have is that the experience of having a person close to you in life die can be traumatic, even if you're told after that they're actually still alive and kicking. I'm actually wondering whether the (presumably) large amount of money spent on that project could have been better placed elsewhere. Also, there's plenty of books, stories, movies and plays which already demonstrate the detrimental effects of alcohol. Those make this scare tactic in particular redundant. It also risks dramatising the whole issue, making it out to be something that only happens in a drama.

 

 

 

Make informed decisions? Are you crazy? Drugs ARE bad. Alcohol IS bad. The only one that you might make an "informed decision" about is sex. Otherwise that's it. Why would you want to make a desicion to do drugs?

 

Firstly, I don't actually do drugs, or smoke, or drink. There you go. I've made an informed decision not to do any of those things, and I'm quite clearly not crazy.

 

 

 

Secondly, remove the blanket statement. Marijuana has some medicinal properties. Alcohol actually boosts confidence and promotes positive attitudes towards life. All drugs have some positive effect, even if it's only hallucinary - they wouldn't sell otherwise, think about it.

 

 

 

Drugs are not all bad. It's about actually knowing what each drug is, what it does, what risks are involved and how seriously they can affect your health, and knowing that moderation on any substance that enters your body is key.

 

 

 

Alcohol sure as hell isn't bad when you take only one unit a day for five days in a week.

[scootlaboot]

Oh, I remember this load of bs was forced down my throat throughout my public education.

 

 

 

The whole smoking kills thing is way off, it only increases the chances of health problems, not definitively causing them like "the man" wants you to believe.

 

 

 

Marijuana... is actually not as bad as "the man" claims it to be. In fact the only way to die from it is smoke inhalation. It also creates urges to eat and drink which is two of the 3 physiological needs.

 

 

 

Sex education, at least they actually explained semi correctly if they had added with hookers after sex and before stds.

[Riku3220]

Marijuana... is actually not as bad as "the man" claims it to be. In fact the only way to die from it is smoke inhalation. It also creates urges to eat and drink which is two of the 3 physiological needs.

 

 

 

It also makes you sleepy, go figure. Marijuana is made illegal because the government wanted to arrest hippies in the 1970s and 80s but they couldn't arrest them for free speech so they made marijuana (the hippies drug of choice) illegal. The government is just under the "Drugs are bad" phase so they aren't going to legalize it anytime soon, what bothers me is that ciggarettes are worse than marijuana

[ember3579]

For those of you who don't feel like waiting for the links, I have copied both of the stories. Just click on the hide tag and read.

 

 

 

[hide=ABC News edition of the Anti-DUI Scare Tactic]It was a typical first period class on a Monday morning at El Camino High School in the beach town of Oceanside, Calif., when the students got the shock of their lives.

 

 

 

A uniformed police officer walked into several classrooms and somberly announced that fellow students had been killed in a drunken driving accident. After reading a brief eulogy, the officer placed a rose on the deceased student's seat and left the room.

 

 

 

The reaction was immediate: Some students broke into tears, others gasped in silent despair and a few became nearly hysterical.

 

 

 

After two hours of coping with their grief, the stunned juniors and seniors were led into an athletic stadium to witness the gruesome scene as the "dead" students, streaked in blood, were pulled out of the wrecked car by local police and firefighters.

 

 

 

That's when they were finally told that it was all part of a ruse designed to educate them about the dangers of drinking and driving. It was an extreme version of "Every 15 Minutes," a program popular in high schools around the country (the title of which refers to how often an alcohol-related traffic fatality occurs in the United States).

 

 

 

But some traumatized students and teachers, including a popular English instructor, were still reeling, upset and angry at the deception.

 

 

 

"It was outrageous," says one parent who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. "My daughter came home a wreck -- she didn't get over it for days. She was more freaked out than educated about drunk driving."

 

 

 

The school was divided over the program in the first few days.

 

 

 

"Some [of those] who were upset felt that they'd been duped some were so caught up in feeling they were tricked that they didn't get the message," says Brittany Bennett, the editor of the school paper, who played one of the dead students.

 

 

 

"It was about half and half. I was nervous about going to school the next day -- I heard that people were angry."

 

 

 

But Bennett says that most students, including friends of hers who sent her frantic text messages when they heard about the "accident," got the message and said that it would stop them from drinking and driving.

 

 

 

"You need something this graphic to wake up to the fact that it's real, that this happens all the time."

 

 

 

How Effective Are Such Programs?

 

 

 

But despite the popularity of the program, some researchers question the long-term effectiveness of such scare tactics.

 

 

 

"There is not much evidence that these programs have much impact on drinking and driving," says Richard A. Yoast, the director of the American Medical Association's Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. "They create awareness but there is not much evidence that they change behaviors."

 

 

 

"Education is necessary to change people's behavior, but it's rarely sufficient to do that. What works is public education, strong laws, law enforcement and people knowing about the enforcement. That combination has reduced drunken driving fatalities."

 

 

 

In some cases, the fear engendered by such programs may even have the opposite impact, says Jennifer Bauerle, the director of the National Social Norms Institute at the University of Virginia.

 

 

 

"The research that I've read shows that scare tactics don't work because fear tends to paralyze the intended audience, keep them upset about something that happened in the past and keep them scared about something that will happen in the future. They can't focus on the present. Sometimes fear appeals cause stress, and they increase the usage of what they're trying to change."

 

 

 

The founder of the program can't say whether it has been proved to change behavior and not just attitudes.

 

 

 

Dean Wilson, a police officer in Bethlehem, Pa., started the program in 1995 and has introduced it to hundreds of high schools and thousands of students.

 

 

 

"It's difficult to measure proactive approaches like this," he says.

 

 

 

"We can tell you that there have been no crashes immediately as a result. But long term, it's difficult to measure. If we can change attitude, then it can change behavior. We last did a survey in 1999 that showed students said they would reduce their daily or weekly drink episodes and were less likely to drive when drinking."

 

 

 

Wilson, who was surprised to hear that students at El Camino High were led to believe for at least two hours that their classmates had died, insisted that he had not sent materials to that school.

 

 

 

"That's not what we teach. There is always a common-sense approach. Maybe the Grim Reaper walks into a classroom and takes away a student."

 

 

 

Lori Tauber, a counselor at El Camino High, explained that she followed the program's materials. "I'm a literal person, and I did everything by the book."

 

 

 

She admits that the program was a little controversial and that some kids were traumatized but said that most students understood the program's importance.

 

 

 

"Next time, we'll probably do it differently, be more sensitive," she said. "More communication, get teachers more involved."

 

 

 

Shock Treatment

 

 

 

But many parents seemed to support the program. Bennett's mother, Lena, explains that she was initially worried that it went overboard.

 

 

 

"But after seeing the reaction and looking at all the things that can happen, I think the kids needed that shock," she says. "But it was rough. One of my daughter's friends who's known her since kindergarten called over here and I started crying even though I knew what was going on."

 

 

 

Kathy Magrino, whose son went through a similar program at Davis High School in California, recommended it to other schools.

 

 

 

"I have never had my son discuss an assembly or an event like that one. It really affected him and I am fully confident that he has never had a drink and driven. It was very successful. We did not have one parent with negative feedback."

 

 

 

Jill Mason, who was severely injured by a drunken driver in 2004, has participated in the program at more than 30 high schools, where she describes her experience. She says she has never heard of a school replicating the El Camino High program, where the students were led to believe for several hours that students had actually died.

 

 

 

"Usually, they are very shocked," she explains. "It's amazing. I remember being that age and not much can affect you. But I can tell that my story is getting inside of them. It's very powerful."[/hide]

 

 

 

[hide=NC Times edition of the Anti-DUI Scare Tactic]OCEANSIDE ---- On a Monday morning last month, Highway Patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School to announce some horrible news: 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 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 are defending themselves against allegations that they went too far.

 

 

 

At assemblies where speakers talked about the dangers of drunken driving, some students held 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, died instantly after being rear-ended by a drunken driver.

 

 

 

She felt nauseated but was too frozen to cry.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Some of her classmates were hysterical, prompting the teacher to tell them immediately the death was staged.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Others, including many who heard the "news" between classes, were left in the dark until the 26 missing students reappeared hours later to enact a fatal traffic accident.

 

 

 

Carolyn Magos, 15, thought there might have been a gang shooting when she saw clusters of kids crying in the hall.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

The stunt was a twist on a program called Every 15 Minutes, which was designed in the early 1990s, when someone was killed an average of once every 15 minutes in alcohol-related accidents.

 

 

 

By 2006, the frequency dropped to once every 39 minutes, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which is not associated with the program.

 

 

 

In California, the state Highway Patrol, local law enforcement agencies and schools use the curriculum authored by the Every 15 Minutes Organization, based in Lehigh Valley, Pa.

 

 

 

Here's how the program normally works: Students chosen to symbolize the dead are pulled out of their classes by someone in a Grim Reaper costume while their obituaries are read aloud.

 

 

 

A few hours later, they reappear in ghoulish makeup to enact a traffic accident at an assembly. Rescue workers whisk "victims" from a mangled car to a hospital or morgue.

 

 

 

The "dead" then spend the night at a hotel isolated from friends and family before returning the next day for an assembly with parents and professional speakers.

 

 

 

At El Camino, the students who were in on the secret shunned the Grim Reaper skit.

 

 

 

"We didn't want kids laughing at it," said Michelle Molin, 17, a junior. "It's like Halloween."

 

 

 

El Camino officials agreed to try to give students the experience of real grief. They defend how they handled the exercise.

 

 

 

"They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized," said guidance counselor Lori Tauber. "That's how they get the message."

 

 

 

The school had counselors on standby to calm kids who were visibly upset but didn't anticipate the power of cell phones to spread the word.

 

 

 

Before class, a freshman who knew her sister was playing dead sent text messages to her friends saying the girl had been killed. Word spread quickly among the school's 3,100 students, many of whom clustered between classes crying.

 

 

 

Even administrators who knew about the program thought there had been a terrible coincidence.

 

 

 

"I got a call from the principal's secretary saying, 'I heard one of our Every 15 Minutes students was really in an accident!' " said Tauber. "And I was like, 'No, they're right here.' "

 

 

 

Dean Wilson, executive director of Every 15 Minutes, said he didn't endorse the hoax. He knew of only a handful of schools where students were told a death was real.

 

 

 

In 2002, a high school in Eagle Grove, Iowa, north of Des Moines, used a hoax death to "step up" the program, said Mark Kay.

 

 

 

His son, Aaron, dropped out of sight after school, while his brother messaged friends asking if they'd seen him. The next morning, students were invited to view a coffin in the school foyer where the boy was playing dead.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Wendy Reynolds, a former prosecutor who spoke at El Camino High about her experience being orphaned by a drunken driver, said most students would benefit.

 

 

 

"I think we save lives if one kid makes a better choice every time he gets in a car," she said.

 

 

 

Perondi said the program students got the message.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, despite how they might try to sugar-coat this, it should NOT be attempted. The only reason that they are doing this is because they have no idea what it feels like to have a loved one die. Additionally, I think that there should be laws forbidding this sort of tactic. The emotional trauma outweighs the potential benefit. As has already been said, this is only teaching the kids to not trust authority figures.

[Orpheus]

For those of you who don't feel like waiting for the links, I have copied both of the stories. Just click on the hide tag and read.

 

 

 

[hide=ABC News edition of the Anti-DUI Scare Tactic]It was a typical first period class on a Monday morning at El Camino High School in the beach town of Oceanside, Calif., when the students got the shock of their lives.

 

 

 

A uniformed police officer walked into several classrooms and somberly announced that fellow students had been killed in a drunken driving accident. After reading a brief eulogy, the officer placed a rose on the deceased student's seat and left the room.

 

 

 

The reaction was immediate: Some students broke into tears, others gasped in silent despair and a few became nearly hysterical.

 

 

 

After two hours of coping with their grief, the stunned juniors and seniors were led into an athletic stadium to witness the gruesome scene as the "dead" students, streaked in blood, were pulled out of the wrecked car by local police and firefighters.

 

 

 

That's when they were finally told that it was all part of a ruse designed to educate them about the dangers of drinking and driving. It was an extreme version of "Every 15 Minutes," a program popular in high schools around the country (the title of which refers to how often an alcohol-related traffic fatality occurs in the United States).

 

 

 

But some traumatized students and teachers, including a popular English instructor, were still reeling, upset and angry at the deception.

 

 

 

"It was outrageous," says one parent who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. "My daughter came home a wreck -- she didn't get over it for days. She was more freaked out than educated about drunk driving."

 

 

 

The school was divided over the program in the first few days.

 

 

 

"Some [of those] who were upset felt that they'd been duped some were so caught up in feeling they were tricked that they didn't get the message," says Brittany Bennett, the editor of the school paper, who played one of the dead students.

 

 

 

"It was about half and half. I was nervous about going to school the next day -- I heard that people were angry."

 

 

 

But Bennett says that most students, including friends of hers who sent her frantic text messages when they heard about the "accident," got the message and said that it would stop them from drinking and driving.

 

 

 

"You need something this graphic to wake up to the fact that it's real, that this happens all the time."

 

 

 

How Effective Are Such Programs?

 

 

 

But despite the popularity of the program, some researchers question the long-term effectiveness of such scare tactics.

 

 

 

"There is not much evidence that these programs have much impact on drinking and driving," says Richard A. Yoast, the director of the American Medical Association's Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. "They create awareness but there is not much evidence that they change behaviors."

 

 

 

"Education is necessary to change people's behavior, but it's rarely sufficient to do that. What works is public education, strong laws, law enforcement and people knowing about the enforcement. That combination has reduced drunken driving fatalities."

 

 

 

In some cases, the fear engendered by such programs may even have the opposite impact, says Jennifer Bauerle, the director of the National Social Norms Institute at the University of Virginia.

 

 

 

"The research that I've read shows that scare tactics don't work because fear tends to paralyze the intended audience, keep them upset about something that happened in the past and keep them scared about something that will happen in the future. They can't focus on the present. Sometimes fear appeals cause stress, and they increase the usage of what they're trying to change."

 

 

 

The founder of the program can't say whether it has been proved to change behavior and not just attitudes.

 

 

 

Dean Wilson, a police officer in Bethlehem, Pa., started the program in 1995 and has introduced it to hundreds of high schools and thousands of students.

 

 

 

"It's difficult to measure proactive approaches like this," he says.

 

 

 

"We can tell you that there have been no crashes immediately as a result. But long term, it's difficult to measure. If we can change attitude, then it can change behavior. We last did a survey in 1999 that showed students said they would reduce their daily or weekly drink episodes and were less likely to drive when drinking."

 

 

 

Wilson, who was surprised to hear that students at El Camino High were led to believe for at least two hours that their classmates had died, insisted that he had not sent materials to that school.

 

 

 

"That's not what we teach. There is always a common-sense approach. Maybe the Grim Reaper walks into a classroom and takes away a student."

 

 

 

Lori Tauber, a counselor at El Camino High, explained that she followed the program's materials. "I'm a literal person, and I did everything by the book."

 

 

 

She admits that the program was a little controversial and that some kids were traumatized but said that most students understood the program's importance.

 

 

 

"Next time, we'll probably do it differently, be more sensitive," she said. "More communication, get teachers more involved."

 

 

 

Shock Treatment

 

 

 

But many parents seemed to support the program. Bennett's mother, Lena, explains that she was initially worried that it went overboard.

 

 

 

"But after seeing the reaction and looking at all the things that can happen, I think the kids needed that shock," she says. "But it was rough. One of my daughter's friends who's known her since kindergarten called over here and I started crying even though I knew what was going on."

 

 

 

Kathy Magrino, whose son went through a similar program at Davis High School in California, recommended it to other schools.

 

 

 

"I have never had my son discuss an assembly or an event like that one. It really affected him and I am fully confident that he has never had a drink and driven. It was very successful. We did not have one parent with negative feedback."

 

 

 

Jill Mason, who was severely injured by a drunken driver in 2004, has participated in the program at more than 30 high schools, where she describes her experience. She says she has never heard of a school replicating the El Camino High program, where the students were led to believe for several hours that students had actually died.

 

 

 

"Usually, they are very shocked," she explains. "It's amazing. I remember being that age and not much can affect you. But I can tell that my story is getting inside of them. It's very powerful."[/hide]

 

 

 

[hide=NC Times edition of the Anti-DUI Scare Tactic]OCEANSIDE ---- On a Monday morning last month, Highway Patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School to announce some horrible news: 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 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 are defending themselves against allegations that they went too far.

 

 

 

At assemblies where speakers talked about the dangers of drunken driving, some students held 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, died instantly after being rear-ended by a drunken driver.

 

 

 

She felt nauseated but was too frozen to cry.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Some of her classmates were hysterical, prompting the teacher to tell them immediately the death was staged.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Others, including many who heard the "news" between classes, were left in the dark until the 26 missing students reappeared hours later to enact a fatal traffic accident.

 

 

 

Carolyn Magos, 15, thought there might have been a gang shooting when she saw clusters of kids crying in the hall.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

The stunt was a twist on a program called Every 15 Minutes, which was designed in the early 1990s, when someone was killed an average of once every 15 minutes in alcohol-related accidents.

 

 

 

By 2006, the frequency dropped to once every 39 minutes, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which is not associated with the program.

 

 

 

In California, the state Highway Patrol, local law enforcement agencies and schools use the curriculum authored by the Every 15 Minutes Organization, based in Lehigh Valley, Pa.

 

 

 

Here's how the program normally works: Students chosen to symbolize the dead are pulled out of their classes by someone in a Grim Reaper costume while their obituaries are read aloud.

 

 

 

A few hours later, they reappear in ghoulish makeup to enact a traffic accident at an assembly. Rescue workers whisk "victims" from a mangled car to a hospital or morgue.

 

 

 

The "dead" then spend the night at a hotel isolated from friends and family before returning the next day for an assembly with parents and professional speakers.

 

 

 

At El Camino, the students who were in on the secret shunned the Grim Reaper skit.

 

 

 

"We didn't want kids laughing at it," said Michelle Molin, 17, a junior. "It's like Halloween."

 

 

 

El Camino officials agreed to try to give students the experience of real grief. They defend how they handled the exercise.

 

 

 

"They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized," said guidance counselor Lori Tauber. "That's how they get the message."

 

 

 

The school had counselors on standby to calm kids who were visibly upset but didn't anticipate the power of cell phones to spread the word.

 

 

 

Before class, a freshman who knew her sister was playing dead sent text messages to her friends saying the girl had been killed. Word spread quickly among the school's 3,100 students, many of whom clustered between classes crying.

 

 

 

Even administrators who knew about the program thought there had been a terrible coincidence.

 

 

 

"I got a call from the principal's secretary saying, 'I heard one of our Every 15 Minutes students was really in an accident!' " said Tauber. "And I was like, 'No, they're right here.' "

 

 

 

Dean Wilson, executive director of Every 15 Minutes, said he didn't endorse the hoax. He knew of only a handful of schools where students were told a death was real.

 

 

 

In 2002, a high school in Eagle Grove, Iowa, north of Des Moines, used a hoax death to "step up" the program, said Mark Kay.

 

 

 

His son, Aaron, dropped out of sight after school, while his brother messaged friends asking if they'd seen him. The next morning, students were invited to view a coffin in the school foyer where the boy was playing dead.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Wendy Reynolds, a former prosecutor who spoke at El Camino High about her experience being orphaned by a drunken driver, said most students would benefit.

 

 

 

"I think we save lives if one kid makes a better choice every time he gets in a car," she said.

 

 

 

Perondi said the program students got the message.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, despite how they might try to sugar-coat this, it should NOT be attempted. The only reason that they are doing this is because they have no idea what it feels like to have a loved one die. Additionally, I think that there should be laws forbidding this sort of tactic. The emotional trauma outweighs the potential benefit. As has already been said, this is only teaching the kids to not trust authority figures.

 

 

 

I agree with you completely. Sure, it works, but it's overkill for what it tries to achieve. Do the ends justify the means then? What if someone took their life because they were depressed, and that was the last straw for them, because they heard about a relative or significant friend dying? What would the administrators and officials do then? Death is NOT a laughing matter, even though I've had my fair share of close calls. What they should be doing is bringing in people who has had experiences with losing loved ones, and have dealt with these kinds of situations. If that was attempted where I live, the idiots behind it would face pure hell from me and anyone else.