Canyon High School hosted the Every 15 Minutes program on Monday and Tuesday, giving students a realistic look at the dangers of drinking and driving.
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The two-day program had students being called out of class by the “Grim Reaper” every 15 minutes, symbolic of the statistic that four people die every hour as a result of drunk driving.
These students, considered “dead,” were separated from the rest of their classmates, who then witnessed a simulated two-car collision in front of the school, which included a response from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Department, fire department rescues, transportation of the injured by ambulance, and the “dead” being taken away by the L.A. County Coroner’s van.
The “dead” students were brought to a room where an artist painted their faces to look like ghouls as a haunting reminder of DUI-related deaths.
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For 24 hours, the “dead” victims were not able to interact with peers on campus. They spent the night Monday in a hotel away from friends and family to add a further sense of reality in regards to the loss of a loved one as a result of drunk driving.
Santa Clarita City Councilman Bob Kellar spoke to students during a Tuesday assembly about the dangers of drunk driving.
“Don’t be a dope when you get behind a wheel,” Kellar said. “You think about what you are doing. You pay attention. Don’t ever think that it can’t happen to you.”
The Every 15 Minutes program has been bringing the emotional event to high schools across the nation since the 1990’s.
The program partners with the California Highway Patrol, local law enforcement, local hospitals, emergency medical responders and schools to educate teens about the potential consequences of reckless, distracted and drunk driving.
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