Shock Value

[Fishypancake]

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.

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."

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."

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."

[Josie]

While I see what they're trying to do, you can only cry wolf so many times.

[Shade]

While I see what they're trying to do, you can only cry wolf so many times.

though i defetly agree, and its true, ish kinda funny hearing you say that.

[KommieKat]

Shock Value is good.

I remember the film we saw in the senior year about driving.
Think it was called "Signal-30" or something (police code).

Showed grusome pics of people dead from car accidents. Wakes kids up.

[Polar Bear]

While I see what they're trying to do, you can only cry wolf so many times.

The thing everyone fails to mention when they use the phrase "cry wolf" is that at the end of the story, there really was a fucking wolf, and it really did chew the fucking kid's innerds out. I know what the story was aiming at, but if you ask me the moral should have been: Always assume someone is telling the truth, because the first time you leave it to chance, someone you love will die horribly.

Just sayin'.

On topic: Bad call on the school's part. Good intentions, but it sets a dangerous precedant. If this school can use emotional trauma to prevent drunk driving, does that mean another school can have some creepy stalker guy pretend to rape a girl in front of everyone in order to get the message across about date rape?

You know..where do you draw the line in the sand? Personally I think the whole "Shock" method should be shit-canned entirely. If there's a message I need my kids to 'get' that fucking badly, I'll do that myself at home.

[Fishypancake]

I feel that shock value should be saved for topics that need it. Drunk driving obviously is a known problem that they are working on fixing in El Camino High, if they [the students] did not realize the dangers of drunk driving nobody would have volenteered to "die". I think if teenagers, and adults did not know the dangers of drunk driving, they would still do it. My point is that not all problems can be solved with recognising the problem, and working on it, you need to get everyone else to spread the word. It will never stop, and honestly there is not much point in going out everyday and fighting for such a [in my opinion] stale cause. Sombody has to though.

My school used to show this video to us all in 6th, and 8th grade health class where it shows this girl get ass raped, then she has a baby out of fucking nowhere. After that a year passes, and she enroles her kid in a daycare. She goes back to work at this diner, get fired, drunk and high, and crashes her sports car [yeah] into her kids day care. I think the moral of that story is "Stop, Drop, and Scream".

[Pinkslit]

To deliberately traumatize someone so they'll "get the message" is morally wrong.
Hell, I'm not even allowed to give my girls a "clip under the earhole."

[Fishypancake]

To deliberately traumatize someone so they'll "get the message" is morally wrong.
Hell, I'm not even allowed to give my girls a "clip under the earhole."

Well it is california. Not exactly moral capital of the world.

And you make it sound like you are giving them those tags you put on cows ears.

[Jenn]

Wow. I would have been extremely pissed about that. I don't think its funny to lie about things like that regardless of the reason why. When I was in school, they showed us these really graphic videos of car wrecks from drunk driving, falling asleep behind the wheel, and driving while on drugs. THAT was enough shock for me.

[Mamba]

Ehhhhhhhh. Not very good.

But then, if one of the students can say this "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."

Then maybe it is.

[4nik8]

"They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized," said guidance counselor Lori Tauber.

Funny, I thought guidance counselors were there to deal with trauma, not dole it out.
I think it's interesting that the lesson taken away from this, by the majority of the students, was that the faculty was fucked up.....not drinking and driving.

[Amythist]

If it works , then more power to the person who took it in. No real harm done. It gave them a reality check. I say as cruel as it may seem , sometimes it takes something like that to register in young minds.

[LethalDose]

Knowing that the police and school staff hoaxed the whole thing,loss of trust for all authority may become a problem.

But,on the other hand,sometimes the only way to reach those kids is to scare the hell outta them.It may make them think twice before they say,"I only had xx amount of beers,I`m alright to drive."