On May 9th, students of Berne Union High School will be dressing up, and posing for pictures to head out to their last “dance” before adulthood.
Senior class member Cassie Wright and other members of the school’s Teen Institute program want to give their classmates advice before this traditional event.
“Don’t drink and drive.”
Their campaign for this message began on Friday when they performed a demonstration of a mock crash on the school’s grounds. The accident scene students created Friday at the high school was a grisly depiction of a prom night with everything gone wrong. Fire trucks, ambulances and a State Highway Patrol vehicle are clustered around two cars that have been involved in a collision.
The scene involved ambulances, fire trucks, and students who pretended to be injured or dead as they were being wheeled away on stretchers.
This demonstration will also be taped and is being produced by the Teen Institute, which is made up of high school students who educate their peers about living substance-free lives. The goal is to show other students the consequences of drinking and driving. The video will be showcased on May 7th.
“We don’t know if it will impact everyone who sees it, but it will put the message out there that this happens and these are the repercussions if a person chooses to drink and drive,” Wright said. “I know people my age drink – and they use prom as an excuse to do so.”
“I’ve personally seen the damage caused by drunk driving and have made too many death notifications to loved ones,” Hurd said. “This is actually a toned down depiction.”
“We chose to portray the teens in the other vehicle where the guy goes through the windshield as teens who were sober, who didn’t drink,” said Lutz, a senior.
The students also plan to do a follow up of a live funeral with complete offins and a pastor delivering a eulogy.
