Every two years my high school puts together a video and assembly all about something called Every 15 Minutes. This program offers real-life experience without the real-life risks. Every 15 minutes there is a drunk driving accident. The Every 15 Minutes program began to raise awareness to high school students so that they understand the effects of driving while intoxicated.
On the first day of events, the Grim Reaper calls students from different crowds of the entire student body. One student is removed from class every 15 minutes. Once those students are removed from class they are turned into the "living dead." They return to their classes with white face makeup, a coroners tag and an Every 15 Minutes t-shirt. From that point forward, they are no longer allowed to speak or interact with other students for the rest of the day.
Later in the day, all of the upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) are taken to the front of the campus where they will view the scene of a drunk driving collision. People that we all know and love will look as though they are seriously injured or even dead. From that point, both the junior and senior class will sit and watch as their peers are taken away in body bags, ambulances and police cars. One student will play the role of the drunk driver, another student will play the part of a pedestrian and the other passengers in both cars will either be critically injured or dead.
At the scene, there will be real coroners, police officers and medics doing their job as if it were a real accident. That evening, all of the students involved in the "living dead" and the crash will be sent to a local hotel where the will have no communication with anybody besides each other, making it more realistic for their loved ones. There will be a mock trial at the court house where the "drunk" driver is spoken to by the victims and the parents of the students who passed away.
Those parents are asked to write letters addressed to the person responsible for the death of their child. During all of this, there is a videographer filming everything from the time the kids started drinking to the to the trial. The following day, there is an assembly held for the upperclassmen showing the video of all the events that took place. I find this program to have so much impact, especially because our school places this event before prom.
Every 15 Minutes raises awareness to our students so that hopefully it won't be one of our own that passes away from making the bad decision of getting in a car with an intoxicated person or even being the driver that ends people's lives.
