By Jennifer Joh
Peninsula High School
Grade 11___12/6/10 – During the week of November 15, Peninsula High School took an extra step to get the Red Ribbon Week message across to the student body and community. Instead of just putting up the usual alcohol awareness posters and planning the expected assemblies, Peninsula High School participated in a national program called ‘Every 15 Minutes’.
Reflecting the 1999 statistic that a person died from drunk-driving related accidents every 15 minutes, a police officer and school administrator entered a classroom and removed one student every 15 minutes. This student was presumed dead and his/her obituary written by parents was read to the class. The obituaries explained the circumstances of the student’s death and the contributions he or she made to the community and school. The officer and administrator placed a rose on the desk of that particular student and the desk stayed empty for the rest of the day as a token of remembrance.
Meanwhile, the “dead” student was unable to speak or interact with anyone for the remainder of the day. Each “victim” was asked to write a good-bye letter to his/her parents, while the parents also wrote a letter to their child, writing things they would have wanted each other to know, but was too late to express.
“Involving the whole community in this program was the only way it could be effective,” Principal Mitzi Cress said. “It took over six months of planning to present this program.”
Photo by Audrey Ryu, Peninsula HS, Grade 10
The program also included a simulated car collision in the student parking lot. One car carried a drunken teenage driver and his best friend, and the other carried Peninsula’s beloved college counselor, Terri Lewallen. The community rescue workers treated the injured participants, offering a first-hand experience without the real-life risks. “Injured” students were aided by firefighters and paramedics and were taken to a real-life morgue in the hospital emergency room. Meanwhile, the student “drunk driver” was questioned, arrested, and taken to an actual jail by police officers.
“The whole simulation definitely made a lasting impression on me,” Albert Liu, a junior, said. “I was surprised by the amount of effort our school put in to make the program happen. Even though I have always thought that drinking and driving should never go together, reminders like Red Ribbon Week always help.”
The following day, students, teachers, and parents of the “dead” students attended a school-wide assembly and memorial service for the students that were “victims” of drunk-driving accidents. Many people in the audience were moved to tears, even those who did not take the program seriously before.
“Honestly, at first, I joked around with my friend saying how the simulations were ridiculous because all the emergency forces had to participate,” Liu said. “But the assembly was just saddening. The old lady’s speech in which she talks about her own daughter’s death must have been really hard for her to say, but for her to speak out about her tragedy to prevent others from suffering the same consequences really touched me.”
Photo by Christopher Sue, PHS, Grade 11
The students who “died” every 15 minutes appeared and reunited with their family and friends as the Peninsula choir sang “Amazing Grace” and they shared tears and joy from the realization that they were lucky to have the “second chance” to make better choices in their life.
“My best friend died in the simulation, and seeing that rose on her desk forced me to imagine what my life would be like if she really had died from a drunk-driving accident,” junior Jenna Lawrence said. “When I finally saw her again at the assembly, we just burst into tears. I’m really lucky to have her in my life and I know that both of us will always think twice before getting in a drunk driver’s car or letting them drive.”
“Since the program began in 1990, there has been a 26 percent decline in drunk-driving related accidents. Now it is every 45 minutes that someone dies in a drunk-driving accident,” Principal Cress said. “In my heart, I know that we reached students and if we saved only one life, then we made a difference.”
