Curse

Ama Seraphim · Jun 13, 2008, 01:54 AM // 01:54

Quote:

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - 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."

'They got the shock they wanted'
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."

'We wanted them to be traumatized'
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."

that was taken off from msn news.. i understand trying to make ppl realize the dangers of this but to do this to kids, is in my opinion, the most asanine thing an adult organization can do.

pumpkin pie · Jun 13, 2008, 02:29 AM // 02:29

this is like the other case happens last year.

Divinitys Creature · Jun 13, 2008, 03:10 AM // 03:10

Story #1 sickened me because that is so incredibly cruel, death is very serious and people would begin grieving and mourning and fel horrible that their close friends died.

Story #2 just shocked me even more. WTF is wrong with those sickos -terrorizing eleven year olds making them think they could die. That's incredibly RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOed up....

azzer20 · Jun 13, 2008, 03:37 AM // 03:37

I laughed out loud for several minutes, does that make me a bad person?

arcanemacabre · Jun 13, 2008, 04:40 AM // 04:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by azzer20

I laughed out loud for several minutes, does that make me a bad person?

Of course not, it's the other way around: Being a bad person makes you laugh out loud to stuff like this.

I totally agree with the intentions of the incident in the OP, just disagree with how it was handled. A nice video followed with a "Imagine how it would feel if you come into school tomorrow to find that your closest friend was killed in an alcohol-related accident... blah blah blah," would've sufficed. Something like that. Pulling stunts like this just encourages massive distrust in authority, something teens don't need any more of.

That second incident... no comment.

OK, one comment: those faculty involved should be put away for a long time. Preferably in some prison where they are labeled as child sex offenders and left alone with murder ones for a while. They may not be sex offenders per se, but they sure did enjoy f***ing with children's minds.

Avarre · Jun 13, 2008, 05:47 AM // 05:47

I thought this looked more creative and potentially effective than just another talk or moral video.

Vilaptca · Jun 13, 2008, 05:50 AM // 05:50

My school did this almost 8 years ago.

I think they still do it every year, but only that first year did they actually get anybody. And teenager's being teenager's word got out before the announcement actually happened. Kids told their buddies that they were going to be "dead" the next day.

I think the article makes it sound worse than it actually is. Trust me. Most people were not outraged, few were sad, hardly any cried, it was just a small moment of silence where we thought about the people who supposedly died until they walked back into the classroom.

Though it was probably the most effective anti-drunk driving thing I've ever seen, all those videos and posters and classes couldn't match this at all.

arcanemacabre · Jun 13, 2008, 06:02 AM // 06:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avarre

I thought this looked more creative and potentially effective than just another talk or moral video.

That is probably true, and I don't deny how effective it may have been. I also agree with Vilaptca that it probably wasn't as bad as the article makes it seem. Still, I think these kind of stunts end up doing more harm than good. Trust is a very fragile thing, especially with teens.

The OP article describes a fine line, especially since the subject being taught is so important. That article mentioned by pumpkin, though... just horrendous.

Avarre · Jun 13, 2008, 06:38 AM // 06:38

If the teens don't immediately get the purpose of the deception was to teach them a lesson and help them, and lose trust or feel bitter instead, then that's a bigger problem of maturity.

Referring to the first article here, though.

arcanemacabre · Jun 13, 2008, 06:58 AM // 06:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avarre

If the teens don't immediately get the purpose of the deception was to teach them a lesson and help them, and lose trust or feel bitter instead, then that's a bigger problem of maturity.

Yeah, well it all depends on how much value they place on the lesson versus the trauma. While I personally may set the value for the lesson higher, others may not; thus, the gray area.

Sleeper Service · Jun 13, 2008, 07:08 AM // 07:08

a big part of the problem lie not within the educational system but in the legal.

http://library.findlaw.com/2000/May/1/128786.html

# OUIL/OWI Death/Injury §625(4) & (5) Drunk or Impaired & Injury Or Death

Felony:
Fine/Jail/Community Service:
Death - prison up to 15 years OR $2,500 - $10,000 fine, or both. Injury --prison up to 5 years OR $1,000 - $5,000 fine, OR both.
Licensing: minimum 1 year revocation/denial
Plate confiscation: None
Immobilization: Required up to 180 days
Reg. Deny: None
Forfeiture: Permissive

drunk driving is as dangerous giving a loaded shotgun to a retarded monkey and dropping it into a mall. It should be punished accordingly, THEN these idiots would have something to be scared about.

pumpkin pie · Jun 13, 2008, 09:26 AM // 09:26

we used to have fire drill in the building I worked, and we know the fire drill is happening because we were told before hand that it's going to happen during these day and these hour. guess where I am during those days and times? The canteen. with my colleagues

so i think there are good and bad in not letting people know when the drill is happening because people are smart ass like me and when the real thing happens they regret not taking the drill seriously. but eight years old , i don't know. probably you can train them early lol, who knows it might come in handy.

Kanyatta · Jun 13, 2008, 05:04 PM // 17:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divinitys Creature

terrorizing eleven year olds making them think they could die.

Point #1: How many eleven year olds do you think attend El Camino High School?

Point #2: Eleven year olds can die.

Divinitys Creature · Jun 14, 2008, 12:47 PM // 12:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kanyatta

Point #1: How many eleven year olds do you think attend El Camino High School?

Point #2: Eleven year olds can die.

Have you ever been in school terrorised by teachers honestly believing you had a good chance to die? Put yourself in their shoes. I don't think you've ever been terrorised IRL have you?

DreamRunner · Jun 14, 2008, 01:26 PM // 13:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avarre

If the teens don't immediately get the purpose of the deception was to teach them a lesson and help them, and lose trust or feel bitter instead, then that's a bigger problem of maturity.

Referring to the first article here, though.

The purpose of teaching people that drink driving is bad? I doubt people will deny that drink driving isn't bad at all. The problem of this, is that they used an situation which no one wants to be in the first place and put a lesson on-top of it which many teens get taught that drink driving is bad anyway.

Should the police come into homes and tell parents that their kids are dead because they didn't have a fence around their pool?

Getting people tell about their experiences of drink driving can help people understand the problem. Teaching people is good and not enforcing an incredible bad situation of young people dying in road accidents, which young people get into without the influence of alcohol.

Avarre · Jun 14, 2008, 01:40 PM // 13:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamRunner

Should the police come into homes and tell parents that their kids are dead because they didn't have a fence around their pool?

No, but school is a place for education, and judging by the number of incidents, the danger of drunk driving is a lesson that needs to be hammered in. I've never been a fan of heavy protectionism, and this kind of thing (drunk driving) is a real issue for teens.

If anything, a bit of exposure to the realities of what can happen is a bigger learning experience than they'd get from a hundred lectures on the topic.

dunky_g · Jun 14, 2008, 06:24 PM // 18:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avarre

No, but school is a place for education, and judging by the number of incidents, the danger of drunk driving is a lesson that needs to be hammered in. I've never been a fan of heavy protectionism, and this kind of thing (drunk driving) is a real issue for teens.

If anything, a bit of exposure to the realities of what can happen is a bigger learning experience than they'd get from a hundred lectures on the topic.

I dont drink drive.

I have never driven drunk.

I never will.

I have never had a lecture on it.

It's called looking after yourself.

That's the main thing young people should be taught these days.

Mortal Amongst Mere Gods · Jun 14, 2008, 08:44 PM // 20:44

Dunky, how will one look after themselves when they don't know what to look for? You didn't just learn that "alcohol+driving=bad" from nowhere. You got it from some source and kept to it. Props for no drunk-driving, but you didn't learn it all by yourself like a big boy.

On topic--The first incident, though I understand the students' frustration, had I been in that incident, I woulda been mad for maybe a minute, then I'd understand the purpose of it. As Avarre said, a realistic experience will teach a hell of a lot more than a lecture ever did. The next day, I'd probably be laughing about it all.

The one involving the elementary students though, that coulda waited a few years. Let em hit 13-15 and then take care of it. 10-11 is a bad age for that, imo.

artay · Jun 14, 2008, 08:58 PM // 20:58

I guess it really differs from child to child, their awareness comes from alot things, parents, experiences, common sense and not all children having these influences (especially common sense in alot of cases)

Though this technique has seemed to have achieved what it was intended to, I just don't know whether it was the right way of going about it.

You have to be pretty stupid to drink and drive, and the stupid kids probably aren't the ones listening during those long lectures about the dangers of this and that, but this seems to be effective in reaching those people.

Yuhe Ji · Jun 14, 2008, 10:12 PM // 22:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avarre

I thought this looked more creative and potentially effective than just another talk or moral video.

I think I agree. Looking at how the students responded, I doubt teachers would have been able to maintain order if it was a real emergency. However, it still is not right deceiving the kids, and if they did it again, the kids might eventually just dismiss any warning given to them, until the real thing happened.