My daughter called me from school this morning…she was crying and obviously quite upset.  It turns out that today was the mock drunk driving accident staged for the benefit of all the seniors in her school.  The timing was perfectly planned to coincide with the upcoming senior ball.  I think it’s a great idea.

But I wasn’t really sure why she was so upset.  Wait, let me rephrase that. Seeing the effects of a drunk driving accident is horrific, even if it’s staged.  I mean, they had to get the accident cars from somewhere, right?

But mock accidents are everywhere these days.  Most schools have them.  And they are extremely effective in getting an emotional reaction out of the students. My older daughters best friend was one of the victims in a mock crash a few years earlier, so the daughter who had just called crying was well aware of what the drill was.  Why was she so upset??

But then I remembered.  A very good friend of hers was killed in an accident like this earlier in the year.  For real.  And through her tears, she said that the mock accident made her realize what his last few moments were like.  She was devastated.

I honestly didn’t know what to say.  It made me wonder….do kids think we are making this stuff up just to torture them?  Do we nag them to pieces because we’re playing with them??  No, of course not.  But I honestly don’t know if they truly get the finality of their actions when they make such terrible choices.

This is the real deal.  Yes. This is what his last few moments were like.  It’s mind numbingly awful.  Nobody should have to die that way.  No parent should have to wonder what her child was thinking when he breathed his last breath.  Drunk driving, Texting while driving, driving while under the influence of drugs….the results are all very real.  And very final.

How are we going to stop this from happening again?  What do your friends, team mates and brothers/sisters need to hear to get them to understand the gravity of dying this way.  How can you get them to understand?