See ‘A Drunk Driving Accident Will Happen Monday Near Culver High Campus’
What does it take to stamp a moral values impression on a busy-minded teenager?
Are teens too smart, too sophisticated, too distracted to take away a life lesson from a simulated car crash in front of their school’s campus?
The deadly double dip of drinking and driving fools millions of young people every year into thinking they can outwit the bottle.
And that is why a model program called “Every 15 Minutes” is being hammered home to Culver City High School’s most vulnerable students for two days, yesterday and today.
Blood flowed, police sirens screamed the arrival of the law and blaring fire trucks yesterday morning roared into the quiet mid-town neighborhood that hosts the triangular campus of Culver High, the Middle School and Farragut School.
In the bitterest of ironies, Lt. Curt Massey of the Culver City Police Dept. helped Culver High launch the Every15 Minutes program last year. But last Jan. 28, Lt. Massey, the married father of three young children, was killed by a wrong-way driver on the freeway at 5 a.m. while he was on his way to work.
Lt. Massey’s memory will be honored today at the school.
It Looked Authentic
A passerby would have been pressed to distinguish between the surreal and real life as two cars — one upside down — sat in the middle of Elenda Street, with a cast of bloodied, lifeless students in each vehicle.
Some 1100 upper-grade students were bunched together on the sidelines to draw a vivid visual lesson from this horrific scene.
From 9:30 until 10:30 yesterday, nobody on Elenda Street or Franklin could have slept in because a tragedy — albeit a creative teaching tool — was dramatically unfolding.
Was the Lesson Taking?
Two huge bleachers had been set up in front of the high school to accommodate some of the overflow crowd of Culver High juniors and seniors. But many were more content stationing themselves with their friends along the curb on either side of Elenda.
Anecdotally, it was hard to tell whether the drunk driving lesson was working.
About 20 minutes along, one boy in a black tee-shirt, frustrated that he couldn’t yet return to a more traditional learning setting, muttered to his friend:
“Enough of this. I’m bored. I would rather be in the classroom.”
Was he a minority of one or typical of more?
Applying Lessons Fast
With the prom coming up this weekend at nearby Sony Studios, Culver High Principal Pam Magee talked about the strategy of staging a spectacular drunk-fueled car crash at the lip of the sprawling campus, practically on the eve of the social event of the season.
She explained that in the past, every year about this time, with high-profile school programs looming, 11th and 12th graders are targeted for heavy-handed lessons in safe-driving while avoiding drinking.
Once they learned of the Every 15 Minutes program, tt did not take school officials long to determine the much greater value of a visual experience.
As police and fire personnel were quietly reviewing how the staged accident had happened, one Culver High student was seen being led away in handcuffs by uniformed officers.
They would escort him to City Hall, where he would be booked, just as drunk-driving suspects are. However, his presumably horrified parents also would be called.
Later for Younger Students
Meanwhile, for 9th and 10th graders, their time is coming, but not just yet, the principal said. “They are not having this exact experience.” Ms. Magee said. “We want to build up to it for them.”
While the accident on Elenda was being cleaned up, freshmen and sophomores were in an assembly listening to a motivational speaker, Rick Minnefield. “He is talking to them about making wise choices,” Ms. Magee said.
What is the end game for this spectacular instruction?
“We are hoping,” said Ms. Magee, “that all of the students will be reflecting on the dramatic impact that a devastating incident like this can have on not only the lives of the victims but the whole ripple effect on the families and friends around them.
“Drunk driving accidents change lives.”
Throughout the school day yesterday and today, every 15 minutes, a student will be called out of class in another elaborate demonstration of the perils of drinking and driving.
After the student is out of sight, a uniformed police officer will enter the classroom. He will read the death notice of the just-departed victim of drunk driving.
“If one student makes a smart choice,” said Ms. Magee, “this program will be worth everything we put into it.”
Athletic Director Jerry Chabola, in his 19th year at the school, told the newspaper there has not been a fatal drunk driving accident involving a Culver High student during his lengthy tenure.
