A cruel hoax

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

Many high schools in Clark County and elsewhere around the country have long relied on an intensive two-day program called “Every 15 Minutes” to teach students about the hazards of driving under the influence of alcohol. It is a mock exercise in which a student is removed from class every 15 minutes. A police officer then enters the classroom to declare the student dead. The student returns to class with ghoulish makeup, a coroner’s tag and a black Every 15 Minutes T-shirt, but as a “victim” is not allowed to speak or interact with classmates for the rest of the school day.

Other elements of the program include a simulated traffic collision and a mock funeral on school grounds, as well as trips to the morgue, a hospital emergency room and jail. Parents are encouraged to participate in the program, which bills itself as a real-life experience without the real-life risks.

But things went terribly awry last month when El Camino High School in Oceanside, Calif., came up with an absurd twist on the program. As reported by the Associated Press, the school enlisted Highway Patrol officers to deceive students into believing that some of their classmates had actually died in car wrecks over the prior weekend. As might be expected, the cruel hoax wound up traumatizing the student body and caused some students to become hysterical.

Thanks to those wrong-minded school officials and law enforcement officers, do not be surprised if many of the students have a difficult time trusting authority figures in the future. Teaching the dangers of driving while drunk is a meritorious topic for any high school, but not when it crosses the line and causes unwarranted grief. As much as Southern Nevada looks west for ideas on government reform, this is one experiment that should never leave Southern California, and in fact should never have been implemented. Just as alcohol does not mix with driving, a cruel hoax has no business in education.