Loading ...Oceanside, CA. AP, June 12 – School officials in Oceanside, California, are defending a scared-straight exercise that sent some El Camino High School students into hysterics.
One Monday last month, California Highway Patrol officers went to 20 classrooms and delivered the grim news that several students had been killed in drunken-driving car crashes over the weekend.
The news devastated Michelle de Gracia, who says she was nauseated and too stunned to cry. Others in her physics class were so upset that the teacher had to tell them it was all staged. Then they became angry. Michelle says says “they got the shock they wanted.”
A 15-year-old student says, while she feels “betrayed” by her teachers and school administrators, she also feels that “if it saves one life, it’s worth it.” Others disagree. During assemblies after the hoax, some students held up posters reading “Death is real. Don’t play with our emotions.”
Camino High guidance counselor Lori Tauber says “we wanted them to be traumatized.”
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1 response so far ↓
1 Christine // Jun 20, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I feel, maybe they should have told them a neighboring high school had the tragic accident or during drivers training or what ever course this was for, should have sited real examples. Im sure there are enough real cases that they did not have to fake one. Maybe students, teachers, or outstanding respectable members of the community could have came in and talked about a drunk driving accident that changed their lives. That way it could have hit close to home with out traumatizing the stundents. I dont think they thought about the effects this could have. Some students may feel a little cocky after this and decide to go drink and drive since the situtation proved to be fake. Now the reality of drunk drivung might seem unreal to some of them. I dont think legal action should be taken, its a waste of time and money, but maybe learn from the incident and try a new approach?
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