I just read a blog by Sheri that make me think of so many things, so instead of commenting on her blog, I decided to write my own. I just have so much to say, so it might make more sense to take a look at her blog on drinking and driving before reading this.
Wow! All of this talk about pretending that students have died is crazy! How did they even think that these students would react to the news, as well as finding out that it was not true? I agree that this is something that would make a lot of students lose trust and a sense of security in the school environment, which is very sad and unfortunate. I think the topic of drinking and driving is a very difficult one to pursue because a lot of students will not take the information seriously, but how far do we need to go to get the message across?
At my high school, we had mock accidents every year. There would be body sketches on the ground with tape and there would be students from each class who were ‘dead’. These individuals had to wear all white and were not allowed to talk for the entire day. They would also set up an “accident” outside at lunch time (what a weird time to do that…) and there would be a wrecked car, blood everywhere, a hearse, and body bags. There were also people who were bloody and “dead”. These accidents looked very real. At the same time though, everyone knew they were fake and it was specifically designed this way. Think of how tragic that would be to not know that it was fake. For me, these types of S.A.D.D events were very interesting. I just wish everyone would take them as seriously. It is sad because, although it probably deterred a few people away from these actions, but there were still many people in my grad class who chose to make this mistake, and unfortunately with some sad results.
Another interesting thing that we had as a S.A.D.D event was a presentation titled “danae’s song”. If anyone had the chance to see this, it was amazing. It consisted of a mother who gave the life story of her daughter, who at the age of 16 was killed in a drunk driving accident. She was in the car with her boyfriend who was intoxicated at the time. Her mother went school to school talking about her daughter’s life, the accident, and the after math. Her mom was joined by the paramedic who was at the scene of the accident. This was a different method to show teenagers the effects of drinking and driving. Her mom also made a website: http://www.danaessong.com/. It is definitely worth checking out. The program also shows videos of her life, and pictures of the car accident, and even explicit photos that show the true results of drinking and driving. Her death was in October of 2000 and her mom is still going school to school to express her feelings on her own worst nightmare.
There are many ways that we can chose to show the results of drinking and driving, but who is to say what will actually work? Everyone will take something different from each presentation. I guess it is just really important to try and affect as many people as possible. Maybe we could think of ways that we could deter students from making these types of choices without us losing their trust.
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I also found Sheri's post really interesting and it got me thinking about my experiences with messages of drinking and driving as well. When I commented on her post, I mentioned some drinking and driving presentations that I experienced in high school and until I read your post, I totally forgot about Danae's Song. Now that you mentioned it, I remember that presentation very distinctly. It definitely affected me because I know if anything like that happened to me, it would tear my parents apart. It allows students to see how their actions and choices can affect others that they care about. Her mother shows so much courage doing those presentations and I think you are definitely right that this is a very powerful method to show youth the effects of driving under the influence. I think that this definitely affected a lot of individuals in a positive way. Perhaps this would allow teens to see the selfishness of certain actions and that making a bad decision can affect everyone.
ReplyDeleteYou are also right in saying that everyone will take different messages from every presentation. That is why I think there should be a variety of ways to get the message across to all students. Unfortunately, I feel as though there is that group of individuals that don't take anything away from these presentations. As future teachers, it is definitely beneficial to consider how to address issues such as these because we will be addressing them with our own students soon enough. It is a very interesting position to be in.