Guardian (UK) (June 12 2008)
I'm going to quote a longer excerpt than usual from this AP article, as it appeared in the Guardian today.
- "OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) - On a Monday morning last month, highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School to announce some horrible news: Several students had been killed in car wrecks over the weekend.
- "Classmates wept. Some became hysterical.
- "A few hours and many tears later, though, the pain turned to fury when the teenagers learned that it was all a hoax - a scared-straight exercise designed by school officials to dramatize the consequences of drinking and driving.
- "As seniors prepare for graduation parties Friday, school officials in the largely prosperous San Diego suburb are defending themselves against allegations they went too far.
- "At school assemblies, some students held up posters that read: 'Death is real. Don't play with our emotions.' "
Generally, the Apathetic Lemming takes a light look at the world.
This is going to be an exception.
I have no idea what sort of local conditions the teachers and administration of El Camino High School may have been reacting to, or why the Highway Patrol cooperated with this despicable fraud.
One of the high schoolers is putting the best possible light on the systematic deception: " 'You feel betrayed by your teachers and administrators, these people you trust,' said 15-year-old Carolyn Magos. 'But then I felt selfish for feeling that way, because, I mean, if it saves one life, it's worth it.' "
Human life is precious, but so is truth.
Perhaps the roughly 3,100 students needed to learn that it feels bad when a fellow-student dies. And perhaps this brutal hoax will 'scare them straight.'
They may also have learned a few other lessons:
- Law enforcement tells lies
- People in authority must not be trusted
- Teachers lie when it suits their purposes
- Deception is regarded as a virtue, when used by those with power and authority
Ms. Magos felt betrayed for a good reason. She and the thousands of other high school students were betrayed. By their teachers, the school's administration, and at least a few officers of the California Highway Patrol.
I think the El Camino High School staff and administration would do well to learn a lesson from that sign: "Death is real. Don't play with our emotions."
More at:
"School defends drunken driving hoax"
CNN (June 12, 2008)
2 comments:
oh come on! yeah it's not great to be lied to and it's wrong but people aren't seeing the bigger picture. People need to stop this ridiculous bickering over how it was done and understand that life is kinda important to some people and preventing death is a pretty legitimate reason to TEMPORARILY lie. I don't care what critics say someone's life was saved because of the program and I think that it was totally worth the drama and lies.
Carolyn,
Nobly said, but the way I see it, the teachers lied.
The school administration lied.
Representatives of law enforcement lied.
I'm afraid that what the kids there learned was that teachers lie. Administrators lie. Fuzz lie.
And, as a corollary: it's foolish to believe what those liars say.
That sort of attitude was very groovy in the sixties, but isn't the best way to approach the world.
Worse, the teachers, administrators, and cops may occasionally tell the truth - and those students will have to figure out whether the latest whopper was true, or - well - a whopper.
Human life is important. But so is being able to believe that authorities aren't liars.
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