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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA]
#8551870 - 06/22/08 07:49 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students June 19, 2008 - AlterNet
A San Diego high school tried a ruse aimed at teaching a lesson about the consequences of drunk driving -- but scare tactics just don't work.
Last week, officials at El Camino High School in San Diego felt the unwanted glare of the media spotlight when the story of their bizarre scared-straight hoax hit the national news wire. A uniformed police officer had informed 20 classrooms that several students had been killed in car crashes over the weekend. According to school officials, the ruse was intended to teach a lesson about the consequences of drunk driving. Did the administration think students would take the news lightly?
After hours of students' hysteria and uncontrollable weeping in the hallways, chaos broke out after officials revealed that the deaths were all staged. "They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized," a guidance counselor who organized the exercise told the Associated Press, "That's how they get the message."
This story illustrates something that has become a core principle of modern prevention techniques: Scare tactics do not work and are likely to backfire. While most anti-drug messaging has moved past the oversimplified "this is your brain on drugs," all too often well-intended lies and half-truths get in the way of reaching young people. This incident is an extreme example of our knee-jerk urges to protect teenagers by terrifying them.
Instead of tuning in young people to their prevention message, over-the-top scare tactics generally foster resentment and oppositional behavior. During the assembly that sought to drive home the dangers of drunk driving, some students held up posters reading, "Death is real. Don't play with our emotions." For many, the only lesson learned from the experience was: adults cannot be trusted to tell the truth when it comes to alcohol and other drugs.
The school's misguided approach flies in the face prevention best practices. The peer-reviewed literature has established that students' sense of connectedness and belonging to school enhances resilience; it is the most important factor in promoting healthy behaviors. Outright lies shatter trust between students and teachers at school, hindering open communication and damaging an essential component of a safe and rewarding learning environment.
Instead of employing methods that destroy their credibility, schools should employ reality-based approaches to drug education that foster open dialogue around the risks and consequences of drug use. Honest information de-mythologizes alcohol and other drug use and the romance of transgression against authority. Open discussion in classrooms presents opportunities to identify and assist students struggling with substance abuse.
Parents also grapple with how best to approach issues concerning alcohol and other drugs with their teenagers. A growing number are turning away from fear-based messages and are teaching their teens how to identify and handle problems -- if and when they occur -- using critical thinking and how to find help and support. Many parents who strongly encourage abstinence from drinking also talk with their teens about designated drivers, carrying cab fare and calling for rides if ever faced with the prospect of getting into a car with a driver who has been drinking.
We need to raise awareness about the consequences of substance use, but we can be honest with our youth without undermining their trust in us. Encouraging positive relationships and fostering a nurturing school environment is central to this effort. Schools should eliminate, rather than create, sources of alienation and conflict between young people and adults at schools. While scare tactics may be driven by the best of intentions, our young people need and deserve better.
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usg543
◕‿◕

Registered: 02/11/07
Posts: 5,192
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: veggie]
#8551891 - 06/22/08 07:53 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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that's fucked up
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ElectricLand
certified bong hitter


Registered: 05/19/08 
Posts: 128
Loc: NJ
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: usg543]
#8552057 - 06/22/08 08:37 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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yea, that really is mad fucked up
-------------------- "I can't remember yesterday. I smoke my head off. I smoke weed all the damn time." -Keith Richards
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Invisible_Woe


Registered: 05/25/07
Posts: 11,709
Loc: Mabase
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: ElectricLand]
#8552185 - 06/22/08 09:16 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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"They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized," a guidance counselor who organized the exercise told the Associated Press, "That's how they get the message."
yes. if it takes complete tramatization and mental anguish for people to do what "is right" then you might want to rethink your message...
this is sick. these people are going to get away with it too. its ok to lie, hurt, kill, hide, all of the things that we say are wrong and all of the things your religions say is wrong, its ok to do these things as long as they say it is. no matter what it is if our leaders say its ok then it is...even if its a lie...you will think it is the truth...because they told you to...and you didn't realize that you dont have to....but its just a ride
-------------------- These are not the answers you should be questioning.
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GoldenCapAttack
Psilocybin Dumpster Divin'



Registered: 06/21/08
Posts: 890
Loc: Mush Mountain
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: usg543]
#8552851 - 06/23/08 01:10 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
usg543 said: that's fucked up
Agreed, i used to live by there too.
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Adamist
ℚṲℰϟ✞ЇѺℵ ℛ∃Åʟḯ†У



Registered: 11/23/01
Posts: 10,211
Loc: Bloomington, IN
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: GoldenCapAttack]
#8553506 - 06/23/08 08:01 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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If they did that to me I'd want to go out and get wasted...
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{ { { ṧ◎ηḯ¢ αʟ¢ℌ℮мƴ } } }
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ElectricLand
certified bong hitter


Registered: 05/19/08 
Posts: 128
Loc: NJ
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: Adamist]
#8554146 - 06/23/08 12:01 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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^...and then drive
-------------------- "I can't remember yesterday. I smoke my head off. I smoke weed all the damn time." -Keith Richards
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Drise
Regnarts


Registered: 02/25/07
Posts: 443
Loc: Underwater
Last seen: 3 years, 4 months
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: ElectricLand]
#8554265 - 06/23/08 12:37 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Haha this is so funny, I didn't go to El Camino But I went to a high school very very close to it
We had to go through this its called "Every 15 Minutes"
Its supposed to be every fifteen minutes someone dies from drunk driving and for an entire week there are students that walk around wearing all white face paint and they act as "Ghosts" and they are put up in a hotel to talk about student drinking and constructive ways to not do it and all this BS.
One of my best buddies was chosen to be a ghost (one of the heaviest drinkers too) He said all they did at the hotel was eat food, drink and get stoned.
The last day of school everyone goes to the field and theres a car crash that happened...some how...on the track.
Its prom night and shit and everyones dressed up in bloody dresses and the police and fire fighters all come and use the jaws and life and just do the whole scene in front of you.
They do it every two years. Pretty Lame
-------------------- "It is only once we've lost everything, we are free to do anything." Everything I think, say, or do is fictional
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Irieforester
Head to toe inH2O




Registered: 03/10/08
Posts: 515
Loc: That state seperating fro...
Last seen: 11 years, 8 months
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: Drise]
#8554657 - 06/23/08 02:37 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Did you go to CdM?
-------------------- I am still and forever learning Apollyphelion said: You can learn A LOT from shitting in the right set and setting!
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Drise
Regnarts


Registered: 02/25/07
Posts: 443
Loc: Underwater
Last seen: 3 years, 4 months
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Re: School Uses Fake Drunk Driving Tragedy to Scare Students [CA] [Re: Irieforester]
#8555055 - 06/23/08 04:40 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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No
-------------------- "It is only once we've lost everything, we are free to do anything." Everything I think, say, or do is fictional
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