Students plan drunk-driving scenario
GREENBRIER — Greenbrier High School counselor Cassie Page said students need “a rude awakening” about the possible consequences of drug and alcohol use.
She enlisted the help of students to get the word out through a staged drunkdriving scenario Wednesday, leading up to the school’s prom on Saturday.
Students in several high school organizations have planned the pre-prom event, which will begin at 10:25 a.m. Wednesday to show the reality of what can happen if students choose to use drugs or alcohol and get behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Senior Sam Burroughs, president of the Ambassadors, said the event is being sponsored by the Student Council, the Drama Club and the EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Club.
“We’re trying to encourage students not to drink and drive,” Burroughs said. “We haven’t done this scene; this will be our first time doing it.”
A wrecked car will be on display, and emergency responders will be available, including Greenbrier firefighters and
police officers, and representatives from Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services and Arkansas Children’s Hospital and others. He said a helicopter is scheduled to be on campus.
Cassie Page, 10th- and 11th-grade counselor, said she brought the idea to the organizations and gave each group a role.
“We haven’t done it in a couple of years,” Page said of the car-wreck scenario. “Drugs and alcohol have just gotten out of hand, and we need the public to know we’re on it — we’re working on it — and the kids to know the consequences of going out and partying after prom — and even on a daily basis.
“The choices that are made by them every day always have consequences. They need a rude awakening.”
Students will gather outside the high school auditorium at 10:25 a.m. to watch the vehicle-accident scenario that has been scripted by the Drama Club. A dummy, representing a wreck victim, will be airlifted by helicopter from the scene “just like it’s a real person,” Page said.
Burroughs also said the Grim Reaper will come to the school, and students performing as police officers will escort the Grim Reaper throughout the school.
“They will pick certain students from each class. The Grim Reaper is going to pull them out, and they’re going to ‘die’ the rest of the day. They will be dressed in black and will have makeup on. They’ll go back to class, but they can’t speak the rest of the day. The cops will read a eulogy,” Burroughs said.
He said the intention is to make an impression on students about the possible consequences of drinking and driving.
“I think it will really make the kids realize what it would be like if some of their classmates aren’t here,” Burroughs said.
Page said although she doesn’t know of a drug- or alcohol-related death during prom in Greenbrier, the counselors are trying to be proactive.
“They need a rude awakening,” she said of the students. “Something needs to be done for an eye-opener before something serious goes on.”