A high school student gets into a car accident while driving drunk and his friend, who is a passenger in the car, is killed.
The teens’ classmates have to leave their prom early to go to the young man’s wake.
That scenario, which is often an unfortunate rite of spring in the United States, played out on stage at Georgetown High School on Wednesday morning.
About 40 students, along with a handful of faculty members, performed a skit entitled “Don’t Let This Be You!” It was the school’s effort to get students to make the right decisions before, during, and after Saturday’s prom.
“It is a very important event for high school kids, and there is nothing more concerning than the thought of these young people making poor decisions and engaging in activities that are unhealthy and potentially life-threatening,” principal Craig Evans said.
“It’s well worth the time we spend on being pro-active rather than reactive.”
“The more that we attempt to send this message out than the more we’re going to be able to prevent such things from happening in the future,” said Carolyn Allison, a drama and English teacher at the school and the skit’s director.
Although many parts of the production drew laughs from the students in the audience, the closing scene featuring a mother crying over her son’s casket while being consoled by his classmates seemed to hit home.
“Kids can relate better to kids,” Evans said. “So to have their peers deliver the message that we as adults are consistently trying to deliver, I can’t say how important it is and effective I think it is.”
Videos made
One way Georgetown High School students have found to let people know they plan to have a fun and safe night is through YouTube videos.
Earlier this month, the youth of Georgetown’s First Baptist Church were discussing the issues of the day when they began to talk about the upcoming prom.
Youth Pastor Jason Mitchell said they wanted to find a way to prove there are many teenagers who know a good time can be had on prom night without alcohol, despite what some of their friends believe.
“We have groups who say they are tired of people telling them you have to drink to have fun and they wanted to prove they were not the only ones who will not be drinking,” Mitchell said.
From that conversation, Cannon Ballard, 17, and some of his friends came up with the idea of taking their message to one place they were certain it would be seen by their peers — YouTube.
Several of the teens recorded short videos using creative ways to explain why they will not be drinking during or after the prom.
For example, Jessica Mears used chalk to write her message on a sidewalk. She is seen on a nine-second clip reading the writing which says “drinking after prom may be the cool thing to do but I don’t need alcohol to have fun,” she says before ending with the phrase “and I am not the only one.”
Eduarda Do Vale has a nearly three-minute clip of her writing her message of “I am not drinking after prom” in both English and Spanish.
Ballard calls himself “Don’t Drink Donnie” in the video he and his friend Casey Newton created. It takes a comedic approach as they relay startling statistics, including more than 5,000 people under the age of 21 die in alcohol-related incidents each year.
Teenagers from other local churches, including Screven Baptist in Maryville, have made videos this week saying they also plan to have an alcohol-free prom night.
By Chris Sokoloski
and Scott Harper
Staff writers