Losing friends to drunk driving, real or imagined, hits home
The emotion from last week’s “Every 15 Minutes” program – a dramatic re-enactment of a drunken-driving accident and its consequences – at Live Oak High hasn’t completely faded away, which is what organizers had hoped.
“We all know that teenage drinking occurs everywhere, and when you have kids calling out to you for some support, for some help, you have to do it, you have to find a way,” Live Oak Principal Nick Boden said Friday, referring to the students who heard about the program when it was at Valley Christian High and asked their parents to try to bring it to Live Oak. “I spoke with students Wednesday at lunch, and they all agreed it was one of the most profound events they had witnessed, very important and very needed.”
“One young man walked up to me, extended his hand and said, ‘I just want to thank everybody involved in putting this together. I lost a friend to a drunk driver last year, and I cannot think of a better way to deal with this, to bring it to our attention and learn from it.”
Students agreed that it was the right time for the program at Live Oak.
“This was something we definitely needed,” Live Oak senior Elicia Perkins said Monday. “It certainly touched a lot of people, a really positive thing. My friend, Jessica Towner was one of the victims, and I had a hard time watching it … The message really got out the next day, during the funeral. It was hard to watch, even the ones I’m not close to, when their family members talked, and hearing what the victims would have told them.”
The message, Elicia said, was that what the “drunk driver” did was selfish and stupid.
“Even if I did drink or drink and drive, after watching that I certainly would never be selfish enough to do it again,” she said. “After listening to those families, to see what one act did, one night and so much was lost, I can’t see how someone could be so selfish.”
Kathleen Drake, parent of a Live Oak sophomore, Albert, said she heard from her son the impact the program had on the students. And she is very glad her son and all the students had the opportunity to watch and participate.
“I think it’s just awesome,” she said, “that they have a chance to experience something like this through school. Most of them will be learning to drive soon, and this is a good lesson, especially since the district is not offering driver’s education at the high school. That builds the foundation, and parents provide more. But not all kids have that opportunity. That makes programs like this doubly important. I would like to see it continue. It really impacts the kids.”
Jessica, who was the “DOA’” or dead-on-arrival in the “crash,” and actually was put in a body bag and taken to the morgue where her family had to identify her, said it was a life-changing experience for her.
“The question of the week was, ‘What was it like to be in a body bag? Are you claustrophobic,” she said. “I have a strong stomach, and I’m not claustrophobic, but if I thought about it, I kind of freaked out, so I just imagined I was in a sleeping bag. I kept thinking, if this is going to help someone make the decision not to drink and drive, then I could hang through it. I kept thinking it might help someone.”
The Morgan Hill community may not have realized how much help was needed, Jessica said.
“This is a big problem,” she said. “I think Live Oak needed this program the most of any school in the area. I think the community is somewhat naive, and the problem really isn’t talked about or paid enough attention to. And recently, we’ve not had any traumatic accidents to bring it home to us.
“But I really think this will. The students that I’ve spoken to about it, the letters from teachers and from friends I’ve gotten about it, I think we’ve all been touched by it.”
Reality can be hard to face, Elicia said.
“I don’t know why, but at our age, we always think it won’t happen to us or anybody that we love,” she said. “We somehow think we are invincible. Nobody ever thinks that it can happen, seeing things that happen in real life.
“But this was definitely a reality check … I’ve told my friends, no matter where they are, no matter what time of night, even if I’m in bed sleeping, they can call me and I would come and pick them up. I’ve told my parents that I will never drink and drive, and if I need to call them, I know there won’t be any repercussions, they would just come and pick me up and my friends if they needed it.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@mo*************.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202
