Mock DWI car accident scene used for middle school DWI education

Cameron, MO

Two students from the Cameron High School DECA program, Bobby Thompson and Emilie Hamilton, have chosen a continuation of the Arrive Alive, Don't Drink and Drive programs from previous years to use as this year's DECA project. Each year the kids choose a program to either start from scratch or to expand upon from previous years. The students must change it up from previous projects, research, develop, promote and then execute in order to create a public awareness.

This year Hamilton and Thompson decided to try and reach a younger audience after discovering some scary statistics. While nationally, 70 percent of High School students consume alcohol, studies show that one in 10 kids age 12 to 13 drink alcohol at least once a month. In 2007, 522 DWI arrests were of children ages 14 and younger. Over 100 of those same 522 arrests were children 10 years or younger. This year, the mock drunk driving accident scene moves to the Cameron Middle School.

"We know that school children this age do not drive yet," explained CHS teacher and DECA Sponsor, Stephanie Williams. "But they are getting into cars with school aged children who do. And, they are making decisions at this age that do affect their lives. After seeing some of the statistics on under aged drinking, my students felt more than ever that it was important to educate the middle school aged children on the consequences of drunk driving."

Last year a group of DECA students worked with school officials and local authorities to create a mock crash of two vehicles and act out a scene in which high school students witnessed the consequences of a drunk driving incident. The event was a success.

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So much so, that one passer buyer stopped to question if everyone was all right and ask what happened. Luckily, DECA Sponsor Stephanie Williams was able to explain to the witness that the entire scene was part of a project created by DECA students to create awareness about drunk driving.

This year students of the Cameron Middle School will be given a presentation by Betsy Polly, a Life Net Air Ambulance nurse. After the assembly, students will then hear a 911 call played over the PA system from a student actor who has just been hit by a drunk driver. Older students, grades seven and eight, will then proceed outside to witness a staged accident scene complete with victims and emergency response teams.

"The students will not witness fatalities this year, we have worked very hard to keep the activities age appropriate," said Williams. "The younger grades, fifth and sixth grade, will be given a presentation by Nurse Polly. We will also announce the winners of the poster contest held for the grades that week."

After DECA has finished the mock car accident scene the fifth and sixth graders will be taken outside to see the vehicles.

"Again, Scotty's tow service has been kind enough to bring a couple of vehicles out and stage them for the mock accident," said Williams. "The younger students will not be brought out until the exercise has completed and only the vehicles are left. We felt it was important to work with our school professionals in order to keep age appropriate exercises placed with the proper age groups. School Counselor Lisa Pruitt was very instrumental in organizing this event with the middle school."

The mock accident will be staged outside of the middle school and is scheduled to begin at approximately 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Oct. 30.

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