Spooky High
October 26, 2006 7:48 PM   Subscribe

A SADD campaign to fight drunk driving forgot about the costume. They also seem to have forgotten about social phobia, aka SAD.
posted by owhydididoit (29 comments total)
 
+++ out of cheese error. Redo from start. +++
posted by Creosote at 7:52 PM on October 26, 2006 [1 favorite]


Or indeed the other, more common SAD.
posted by jack_mo at 7:58 PM on October 26, 2006


This is pretty stupid, high school kids obviously shouldn't drink anyways.

Oh, and... "impaired" driving? Why don't they just grow a pair and ban drinking and driving 100% since we're obviously headed in that direction anyways.
posted by StephenV at 8:10 PM on October 26, 2006


My friend in high school was the grim reaper when the "Just Say No" club did something like this. He later went on to use many illegal substances.

Conclusion: Grim reapers totally rock!
posted by logicpunk at 8:13 PM on October 26, 2006


I was a pretty straight high schooler, but kids that ate this prohibitionist stuff up always seemed a bit off to me.
posted by Opposite George at 8:40 PM on October 26, 2006


--Select a "grim reaper" for the day. (When planning your day, don’t forget to receive permission from your principal and notify teachers of what will be taking place.)--
man, asides like that one say a lot about our society.
posted by wumpus at 8:55 PM on October 26, 2006


Meanwhile, driving while phoning or texting will kill nearly as many as drunk driving. It's only the 2nd or 3rd leading cause of accidents in the US.
posted by loquacious at 9:00 PM on October 26, 2006


This is pretty stupid, high school kids obviously shouldn't drink anyways.

I don't even know where to begin with people like this.

Meanwhile, one of Pratchett's best Death stories.
posted by landis at 9:24 PM on October 26, 2006




StephenV: THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS TREMBLES BEFORE YOUR TERRIBLE CERTAINTY. YOUR MORALITY BECOMES A FORCE AS STRONG AS GRAVITY.
posted by landis at 9:36 PM on October 26, 2006 [1 favorite]


landis: I'm actually hardcore libertarian and think once you're 18 you can do whatever the hell you want. Maybe if SADD made some effort to educate kids about responsible drinking and planning so they don't have to consider the option of driving I could be on board with them... but the grim reaper thing is, uh... stupid.
posted by StephenV at 9:40 PM on October 26, 2006


Maybe if SADD made some effort to educate kids about responsible drinking and planning so they don't have to consider the option of driving I could be on board with them... but the grim reaper thing is, uh... stupid.

Then you and I, sir, are in agreement. Altho I take some issue with your "18. . ." statement. It's hard to say when people mature. Many people over 16 I know shouldn't drive when they're sober.

Also, take no offence to the quote above; altho you must agree it's a good one.
posted by landis at 9:47 PM on October 26, 2006


"This is pretty stupid, high school kids obviously shouldn't drink anyways.

I don't even know where to begin with people like this."

High school kids should be allowed to drink, sure. They should be taught how to drink responsibly, rather than told not to drink by parents who then go out and booze. Because then those kids will drink in college, even though it's disgusting, because hey, fuck mom and dad for being hypocrites. Drinking becomes cool, and acquires the aura of "rebellious behavior" that young adults so desperately need while their carving out their own identities. Before they know it, they've fucked themselves up and the only way they know how to have fun is by getting loaded so that they break down the social walls they were too drunk to bother exploring at the appropriate time: when they were in college.
posted by Eideteker at 9:49 PM on October 26, 2006


I really hate MADD but if stuff like this can get kids to hold off drinking and driving it's a good thing, since they're the most likely to actually do it.

Still, prohibitionist propaganda in schools works about as well as abstinence only. Imagine if we taught kids the truth about drugs and how to 'dope safely'.
posted by delmoi at 10:01 PM on October 26, 2006


Eideteker, there is a lot of sad truth in your comment. Altho part of me can't help quoting Chef: "Chillren, there's a time and a place for everything, and it's called 'college.'

On a more serious note, drinking can become a crutch. I've succumbed to it before, and am even now. FYI, I started drinking at fifteen, over twenty years ago. Some can handle it; some can't. It's those that are having such a hard time that are close to me that hurts my heart.

I have no answers . . . all that I know is that drinking (and drinking and driving) isn't the demon that so many pose it to be.
posted by landis at 10:10 PM on October 26, 2006


logicpunk, the guy in my circle of friends in high school that was the biggest druggie went on to get his degree in Pharmacology.

Sometimes truth will out.
posted by landis at 10:22 PM on October 26, 2006


Thanks Metafilter, for reinforcing that nagging belief of mine that people are getting more and more blase about drunk driving. We shouldn't worry about drunk driving because people are talking on cell phones and doctors are fucking up patients? False dichotomy much? 1/84 people die transportation related deaths, the majority of those are related to drunk driving and almost all transportation deaths are human error and totally avoidable. These aren't dying sick people. These aren't the elderly. They're everyone. At least I can avoid second-hand smoke. Until somebody shows me a way to get around town without ever crossing a single street, I can't avoid sudden, violent, automobile related death.

I prefer cultural change over government regulation, but, if you're going to be a libertarian care-nothing dickhead about it, I'll help pass more laws just for spite.

Also, forgive my bias, but this post sucks. Unfunny non-sequiter: Check. Single-link post disguised with crap links: Check. Yes, this is dorky. Yes, there are a lot of dorks in high school. Yes, I'm sure you believe that caring about something enough to make a statement is way dorky. We get it. I'll stop making a fuss and snark my way though life like the sheep who think they're not sheep instead, 'kay?

So, feel free to ignore everything I just said and help me answer this more productive question: How do make designated drivers cool (again)? I mean, they sacrifice a night to help their friends get home safely, but everyone treats them like the party pooper.
posted by Skwirl at 11:14 PM on October 26, 2006


How do make designated drivers cool (again)? I mean, they sacrifice a night to help their friends get home safely, but everyone treats them like the party pooper.

Dude, you are hanging out with the wrong people. I've never had anybody make fun of me for volunteering to give them a ride home.

Find better friends. Seriously.
posted by Opposite George at 11:22 PM on October 26, 2006


Find better friends. Seriously.
Seconded.
posted by landis at 11:36 PM on October 26, 2006


From Skwirl's website: Cars kill more Americans each year than the Vietnam War.

So is it 'drunk' driving or just driving that you have a problem with?
posted by landis at 11:41 PM on October 26, 2006


Nothing wrong with taking another look at the things we accept unthinkingly.

I mean, suppose I were to come up with a new method of transporting people from one place to another with perfect safety. It's fast, it's flexible, you can go anywhere you want. And all you have to do to run it is, once a year, randomly select 10,000 men, women and children out of all the people in America, and sacrifice them to dark gods.

That system would be nearly five times safer than what we've got now. And that's just talking about deaths, and not taking injuries into account.

The idea of intense driving classes costing upwards of $1500, as practiced in Europe, appeals to me more and more.
posted by darksasami at 1:47 AM on October 27, 2006


Sorry you don't like the post, Skwirl, but you also didn't seem to understand it. Let me connect the dots for you:

1. SADD recommends that schools pick a kid to act as the grim reaper, dressed up in face paint and a robe. I say go one further, and really freak them out, by using a costume. Yes, I was kidding, to make a point: their idea is ill-advised.

2. Social phobia affects way more kids than drunk driving, is terribly difficult, and can lead to suicide. People with social phobia are prone to embarrassment-related trauma.

3. Dropping into a classroom (dressed as Death, no less), picking someone out, painting her face white with a single tear, and then ostracizing her for the rest of the day, is an experience that could easily traumatize someone with SAD. Of course it's dramatic. In my opinion, it's also irresponsible.
posted by owhydididoit at 6:43 AM on October 27, 2006


This post doesn't make any sense. I clicked the links trying to find the connection, but it's a pretty weak one.

This is also not a new concept. SADD was doing this when I was in high school, over 10 years ago. I think it's actually pretty effective, in the sense of getting kids to think - the "killed" students wore signs saying they were killed by drunk drivers and no one was allowed to speak to them all day. They were like ghosts. It definitely shook some kids up.
posted by agregoli at 7:35 AM on October 27, 2006


Our kids were volunteers to "die" for the day, BTW.
posted by agregoli at 7:36 AM on October 27, 2006


Well, thanks for the feedback. I'll try to make more sense in the future.
posted by owhydididoit at 8:26 AM on October 27, 2006


All of the "dead" should sit together at lunch, not speaking to anyone.

Dude, we had this when I was in highschool too. They called us "Goths". It didn't really teach us anything about drunk driving though.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 9:41 AM on October 27, 2006


How do make designated drivers cool (again)? I mean, they sacrifice a night to help their friends get home safely, but everyone treats them like the party pooper.

I don't know about you, but I'm more often than not the DD and nobody dares give me shit about it; if they do, they get to pay a cab fare instead. All I've gotten is praise for making sure people get home safely. I can always get my drink on in the comfort of my home if I so desire.

I personally lost three good friends and one close cousin to drunk driving during my teens, and said cousin's daughter was left mentally disabled and disfigured from the accident. Lame stunts like this SADD campaign would have done nothing to prevent either of the incidents, and lend neither credibility nor seriousness to the issue. If anything, it makes the issue a relative laughingstock to their peers (much like most campaigns of this sort in high school).

(I should add, Skwirl, that I'm also one of those "libertarian dickheads" you so lovingly refer to.)
posted by vanadium at 10:15 AM on October 27, 2006


landis : Meanwhile, one of Pratchett's best Death stories.

Thanks for that. I hadn't seen it before.
posted by quin at 11:17 AM on October 27, 2006


seconded. they did this when i was in highschool (some 15 years ago) and the "dead" kids were all volunteers.
weak links, all.
posted by mikoroshi at 11:55 AM on October 27, 2006


« Older Baseball win probabilities based on game situation   |   Gorgeous Art Deco blog Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments