Every 15 Minutes at
PROBLEM
The title, Every 15 Minutes, comes
from the unfortunate fact that during the early 1980s every 15 minutes someone
in the
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Every 15 Minutes is a two-day program
that challenges high school students to think about the consequences of
drinking, personal safety and the responsibility of making mature decisions
when lives are involved. The program seeks to provide students with a
hard-hitting, realistic dramatization of the aftermath of a fatal alcohol-related
car crash.
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The Every 15 Minutes program begins
with an outdoor assembly where students witness a dramatization of the
aftermath of a fatal alcohol-related collision involving two automobiles.
Emergency personnel, including police, fire, paramedics, and the coroner’s
office, respond to the crash scene with sirens blaring the crews rapidly get to
work on freeing the victims from the automobiles. Emergency responders
transport those that are critically injured while others are declared dead and
are removed by the coroner.
The designated student drunk driver is given a field sobriety test and is arrested for driving under the influence. After the assembly students return to class; however, throughout the day selected students are removed from class by a “grim reaper” character while a police officer reads the student’s obituary. The student then becomes one of the “living dead” and continues with his/her classes, but is not allowed to interact with other students.
The dramatization provides convincing overtones as to the loss felt by everyone due to a fatal alcohol-involved collision. Parents even receive a mock death certificate. At the end of the day, the “living dead” students go to a local resort to stay overnight in order to effectively simulate the physical and emotional impact that the students is no longer alive. The program culminates the following day with an assembly featuring the “living dead”, students, their parents, guest speakers, and testimonies from relatives of real DUI victims.
RESULTS
This powerful program helps the students see members of their community in a different light. They are no longer just cops, doctors, paramedics or firefighters, but are mentors and human beings who care about the youth in the community.
It also creates awareness among students that they are not invincible and allows them to experience first hand how their actions affect the lives of so many other people. Further, research has shown that after participating in the Every 15 Minutes program, students are less likely to drive when drinking and are less likely to be a passenger with a driver who had been drinking.
PLANNING
This program takes a lot of coordination and planning for
months in advance of the actual event. The
staff at
Web site: www.every15minutes.com
September 19, 2005