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It was a sobering scene Thursday morning, when two crashed cars marked with fake blood sat on the track at San Ramon Valley High School. The assembly was part of anti-DUI program Every 15 Minutes, where students act out the aftermath of a deadly, drunken car crash.
Students squeezed onto bleachers, watching the scene unfold. Emergency services arrived to find badly injured students and at least one without a pulse. Surrounding the cars were empty cans of Sparks, an alcoholic energy drink.
While the scene was fake, the emergency response crews were acting seriously: vehicles with sirens blaring, rushing to the scene; using the “jaws of life” to pry open car doors; putting students on stretchers; and finding out details of where the students had been. One student was even airlifted via helicopter.
The two-day program is meant to have students think twice before drinking and driving and how their decisions impact others. Every 15 Minutes is based on a fact in the early 1990s where it was believed that every 15 minutes, someone in the United States died of an alcohol-related traffic collision. Now, the death rate puts that statistic back to about every 30 minutes, believed to be the result of drunk-driving prevention groups.
Other students also participated by filming the activity. This footage will be watched at an assembly Friday at St. Isidore Catholic Church’s Cardelli Center. There, “living dead” students are seated in front of the auditorium, across from their parents. These students will read excerpts from the letters they wrote the night before about what it felt like to die without having a chance to say goodbye.
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Students watch the Every 15 Minutes assembly, where it shows the aftermath of a staged DUI crash. Photo by Emily West. -
Emergency crews console students who were involved in the mock crash. Photo by Emily West. -
Firefighters work to retrieve a student who was injured in the staged anti-DUI assembly. Photo by Emily West. -
One student was even airlifted to the hospital as a part of the Every 15 Minutes assembly. Photo by Emily West. -
Students were encouraged to leave notes for students who make up the “living dead” — students who they pretended had died from a DUI crash. Photo by Emily West. -
Emergency crews work use the “jaws of life” to pry open the car’s door and get the student out. Photo by Emily West.
Great job to everyone who put this on. Too bad the effects of it didn’t last more then 24 hours. The kids were drinking Sat night. Worse yet, the parents were again supplying the kids the alcohol. Stop trying to be the cool parents and start acting like a real parent. It’s a matter of time before an accident or death occurs because of you supplying these kids with the alcohol. Your lame excuse of I want a safe place for them to drink so better they are here then on the road is stupid. This is not just an SRVHS problem but a MV problem also. We all need to work together to keep our kids safe. Grow up and make a responsible decision…kinda hard to tell if I’m directing that to the kid or the adult?
My son is a student at SRVHS and I spoke to him and his friends about this event. They were all effected by the message much more than I could have anticipated. One of the students involved in the “accident” survived but was unable to speak and this hit them almost as hard as the deaths. In addition, hearing the letters written by students/parents and the letter read by the parent whose child had died as a result of driving while under the influence, and Troy and Alana’s parents heartfelt comments really drove the message home.
From a mom who loves her son, thank you to all involved.
My kids also go to SR. It did make a statement to these kids. I could tell they were emotionaly upset but they got the message. It is true what the 1st posting says. My kids have been at partys where there is alcohol and parents are present and know about it. These aren’t the druggy kid parents, they are the mainstream parent. I’m scared with Senior Ball and Graduation coming up and these parents are out there doing this. Besides educating our kids about drinking and driving, what can the community do about these parents?
I disagree with parents knowingly allowing drinking of alcohol by underage kids.
However…
If some parents are, in fact, at home when the drinking is going on, and these parents allow it because they want to create some type of “safe”? environment for the drinking, then the parents should:
1. take all car keys away from all party attendees when they walk in the door
2. monitor the drinking of all attendees and cut off drinking for individuals during the night (just as a bartender does)
2. have all kids sleepover until the next morning
So you would allow your child to go over to this person’s house to drink and get drunk since that is the end result? You place your trust in someone who is knowingly breaking the law? You also trust this person’s judgement on determining what is enough alcohol for your kid? You also place trust that they are not drinking themselves and that they will stay up all night to watch the kids to make sure they don’t leave the house or choke on their vomit if they throw up? I could see allowing only my child to have beer at a close family function when they are 18 but there is no way I would allow my kid to participate in this. I love my child and simply could not take that risk. What is wrong with the parents in our community if they think a group drunk is OK for kids as young as 16 or even 18? Once the kids leave for college it is harder to control but the drinking age is 21 and thats the law.
I am a Junior at SRVHS. I choose not to drink or do drugs but most of my friends drink. I am the designated driver on the weekends. Whether parents provide a place for them to drink or not, they will find a place so the parents that allow them to be safe, not drink too much and not let them drive are smart. Parents that think their kids drink because other parents “turn the other way” need to pull their head out of the sand. Bottom line, if YOUR kid chooses to drink, they will no matter what.
My question is, why do the kids feel it is necessary to drink? I know there are plenty of homes in this area that have stuff to make it a fun evening with friends i.e. Fire pits, pools, hot tubs, basketball hoops, ping pong tables and such. If a parent provided this atmosphere to do stuff with your friends, why should they provide alcohol also?
I really want this to be an open discussion and I would like as many people (adults and kids) to voice their thoughts so we have a better understanding of what is going on in our community with our kids.
SR Mom – I drank (though very little) in high school, and I did it because my friends were drinking and I wanted to fit in. My guess is that some kids feel more grown up or that they are testing their boundaries, or that they like the feeling they get when they drink. There are probably hundreds of reasons.
We don’t let our kids go to parties at homes unless we check with the parents to be sure they are there and that the party is “dry” however I’m sure they have been around drinking (as SRVHS Junior stated – if they want to find alcohol/drugs, they will) and I think it is a good idea to be exposed to substances (best if they avoid trying them but I’m sure it doesn’t always end up that way) before they go away to college. I think they need an opportunity to make decisions around these issues before they leave and are on their own.
Just my thoughts, I’m sure others feel different. A good subject to discuss for sure.
I agree the kids need to know the effects of alcohol before heading off to college. They need to be prepared to make their own decisions. I am more likely to allow my child to try the alcohol if they are 18 or a senior. I do think exposing them at a private family function is a better way then allowing kids to gather at someone’s house for a party where the primary intent is to get drunk. The group drinking is not a one weekend out of the month type event from what I hear. My question is, how many of these parents of these kids, at these partys, know their child is drinking? I would be furious to find out someone is giving alcohol to my child but does that bother the hosts of these parties? To the parents out there who host these partys are you at all concerned about the consequences you face if you are the reason behind an accident involving one of these kids? You cant tell me you have forced a kid to stay at your home when they have wanted to leave and have had a safe ride home. What they do after leaving your home i.e. driving drunk later in the night is your fault. We are supposed to be the responsible adult and I don’t think that is the message we are sending our kids with these group drinking parties.
Well done!Thanks SRVHS
Caroline: So you wouldn’t mind if a parent, of one of your child’s friends, allowed your son or daughter to drink alcohol at their home? Go figure! What gives someone the right to make such a critical decision for another person’s child? I don’t have a problem if a parent wants to allow his or her child to drink alcohol under their direct supervision. However, for that parent to give my child alcohol without my knowledge is criminal. Every year we hear about children and young adults dying from alcohol poisoning. If someone wants to take that chance with their own child, go ahead, but do not decide what’s best for my child.
I wish someone who hosts the teen parties would come forward and post. A number of us parents in the community wonder why and would like some enlightment as to your reasoning and how you monitor the get togethers, since our kids might be there. Support your decision to do so in this forum. What have you experienced with these kids? We have expressed our thoughts and concerns, now it’s your turn.
Or kids tell us. When your at your friends house drinking, what are you doing or the parents doing? We just are worried about your safety since you could be my child.
My children are all grown now so I don’t have this problem, however, I have always thought that it is unreal that our young people are allowed to fight in wars and vote at 18 but stilll not be considered adult enough to have a beer. I lived abroad when I was young and the kids in europe would go to clubs and dance all night and drink coca cola. They were allowed to have wine at the table from an early age so they did not think of it as a big deal. It was very rare to see a drunken person out on the town having fun but I do remember the american kids were still sneaking boose and partying all the time. I guess the european kids had been tauaght to drink responsibly.
I thought the whole thing was dumb beacause it was all fake the one thing that did afect me was the to true storys the rest had no afect on me