Students learn a tough lesson about drinking and driving

The Students Against Destructive Decisions club sent a clear message to Damascus students on May 2: Drinking and driving can lead to dying.

At an assembly for 11th- and 12th-graders, a slideshow caused shocked silence and a speaker recounted the first-hand results of driving under the influence.

After an introduction by two SADD members, the assembly commenced with a slideshow based on a series of television ads by the Texas Department of Transportation. "Jacqueline [Saburido] is a survivor of a car accident with a drunk driver in Austin three years ago, that left her burned and disfigured for life," the first slide informs viewers.

Images of Jacqueline spending time with her family and partying with her friends appeared on the Auditorium's overhead screen.

Students were impressed by the image of the young girl in a bikini. "When they showed the earlier pictures of her life, everyone was hollering because she was so pretty," SADD secretary Mariam Fatah recalled.

The image of a severely damaged and burned car followed. Small talk continued in the audience.

Then a photo of a disfigured girl appeared on the screen. Her face was stripped of any distinguishing features, the result of terrible burns across her entire body. Loud gasps emerged.

And then silence. "The second they showed her new face, everyone was so silent and everyone paid attention," Fatah said. "You could hear a pin drop in the auditorium."

The slideshow set the tone for the speaker, Judy Kressig, who recounted her weeks in a coma, months in the hospital, and years in therapy after she was in an alcohol-related crash. "Brain injuries are the pits, folks," she said matter-of-factly. Kressig was a passenger in a vehicle whose driver was drunk.

She aimed to force students to consider the consequences of driving drunk or drugged. "God gave you one brain and one heart. He gave you two hands and two legs, two livers, two kidneys, two lungs. But he gave you one brain and one heart. Think about it."

"They saved my life, yes," Kressig continued. "But why did they save my life? They could have let me die and it would have all been over with. I wouldn't have to stand up here saying, 'See what drinking and driving can do to you?' I wouldn't be doing that."

"She wasn't afraid to tell the truth," senior Deanna Head stated about the speaker. "She cracked jokes on herself because she knew that she had done something stupid and had messed up her life ­ she wanted to teach us a lesson from her experience."

The assembly concluded with comments from SADD's sponsors. "You have a life waiting for you outside of DHS," teacher Heidi Vermillion told the assembled students after Kressig spoke.

Students left the assembly less rowdy than they had arrived. "We want them to understand that the choices they make prom night can influence what the rest of their life has in store for them," SADD president Ashton Mallon added.

Last week at lunch, prom-goers were asked to sign the "Prom Promise." The card states that the student will steer clear of drug and alcohol use the night of prom, which was Friday.

Mallon hopes the assembly and related activities were effective. "We just hope that through all of our activities ­ like the witness account from the speaker at the assembly and through Prom Promise ­ that the idea will get across to students that drinking and driving can have terrible consequences."

Brian Stelter is a senior at Damascus High School and editor in chief of The Observer, the school's newspaper. His column appears in the Damascus edition of The Gazette.