Your friends just died in car accident....

[ravenguy2000]

...LOL just kiddin'!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25123570/

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.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

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."

[neopryn]

it's time to get back into the trees and try starting this whole civilization thing over again

[Floppy Nono]

Best senior prank ever.

[SlingeroGuitaro]

wish i would have thought of it

[Ol' Couch Ass]

lol no prob i can txt im jst drving

[Mo]

What a disgusting thing to do. Those in charge should be fired instantly.

[BumbleBeeMouth]

fucking consequentialists

[duovamp]

I never liked David, so this was a good day that turned out to be crappy when I found out he was alive.

[tcm]

Originally Posted by ravenguy2000

"we wanted them to be traumatized," said guidance counselor Lori Tauber

lady... i think you... are the one who needs some guidance... look into a new career path..., preferably one far removed from the influence on vulnerable young minds... you crazy, crazy, sadistic worm!

[Sonic Johnny]

why are people so afraid of traumatizing children? they're pretty resilient. i think children need to be traumatized more if anything.

They should have just picked a random student and killed them, then told everyone it was a car accident.

[Travis Meeks]

I think what they did was OK

[wHATcOLOR]

i was just reading this news story, it made me sad. it is also about a kid. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...72DS.DTL&tsp=1

[redbreegull]

This is kind of the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. The ringleaders should lose their jobs.

[severin]

i actually think this is a very effectiv way of stopping people being killed by drunk highschool seniors. if you know how much pain you can cause in other people first hand, you might think twice before you drive a car under the influence

[I'm Hardcore]

people are going to drink & drive, no matter what.

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by severin

i actually think this is a very effectiv way of stopping people being killed by drunk highschool seniors. if you know how much pain you can cause in other people first hand, you might think twice before you drive a car under the influence

Are you serious? It is not ok to fuck with people like that, to prove any point. There are some things that are indefensible no matter what the end. Telling people their friends have died as part of a school program to stop drunk driving is about a mile over the line. I fail to understand how anyone can see this as anything better than morally detestable and a disgusting shock value trick.

[SlingeroGuitaro]

i would have gone out and got trashed with the not dead dead kids.

[TuralyonW3]

kids have to learn on their own

[Mo]

Originally Posted by severin

i actually think this is a very effectiv way of stopping people being killed by drunk highschool seniors. if you know how much pain you can cause in other people first hand, you might think twice before you drive a car under the influence

You're kidding, right?

If people are still driving under the influence [or if people are still getting into cars driven by drunk people] and getting killed... well, GOOD! One less idiot. I just felt the world get lighter.

[Thaniel Buckner]

this idea is as half baked as a woman telling her s.o. that she's pregnant. and somehow this idea traveled across the desks of multiple people who thought it was fucking brilliant.

[IWishIWasBlank]

Originally Posted by neopryn

it's time to get back into the trees and try starting this whole civilization thing over again

Originally Posted by Ol Couch Ass

Ol' Couch Ass lol no prob i can txt im jst drving

It's a toss up here for best post in the thread.

[severin]

Originally Posted by antipop

You're kidding, right?

If people are still driving under the influence [or if people are still getting into cars driven by drunk people] and getting killed... well, GOOD! One less idiot. I just felt the world get lighter.

actually, no, because the story was, that a non drunk driving school-mate was killed by a drunk driver, not that a drunk schoolmate was killed....

[SlingeroGuitaro]

Originally Posted by severin

actually, no, because the story was, that a non drunk driving school-mate was killed by a drunk driver, not that a drunk schoolmate was killed....

so it's teaching the kids to stay home all the time?


you can't do a lot to prevent getting hit by a drunk driver

[tcm]

uhhhhh no it's supposed to teach them empathy for the victims of drunk driving and their friends & family because YOU would must be a monster to not care about causing that kind of anguish and be moved only by fear for your own self. is that what you are?

[SlingeroGuitaro]

absolutely