Earlier this year, I woke up to my mom telling me that my uncle had been in a car accident the night before. He’d been highly intoxicated. He drove through a barricade, flew eighty feet in the air and ran into a tree. Doctors say he’s lucky to be alive; police say he’s lucky he didn’t kill anyone.
After witnessing the pain my uncle’s poor choice has caused himself and my family, you can imagine how thankful I was that Liberty decided to hold a DUI simulation and assembly for juniors and seniors on April 24 to educate us on the dangers of drunk driving.
You can also imagine my great disappointment and frustration when a few students decided to belittle the event by making inappropriate comments, snickering at what they considered to be “poor acting,” and telling the actors grieving the accident to “suck it up.”
I find it blatantly disrespectful, and even more so, ignorant, that while so many people would attempt to educate Liberty’s juniors and seniors about the dangers of driving under the influence, some would rather make insensitive jokes about the situation. It’s not funny to joke that a student, who—keep in mind—was at school before 5 a.m. to prepare for the simulation and had the courage to act before his peers, should “stop screaming” because “it’s only a fake broken arm.”
I’ve been trying to come up with a reason that could justify the audacity of these students to belittle the simulation. Trust me, it’s been pretty difficult.
So far, the only thing I could come up with is that these kids assume a tragic accident like that will never happen to them.
But that’s what everyone thinks, until one night, they’re the ones in the crash. As the simulation demonstrated, even if you aren’t the one drinking and driving, you could still meet someone impaired on the road.
And because DUI accidents have the potential to impact everyone, I’d like for myself and my fellow peers to be as informed as possible on this subject and treat it with the gravity it deserves.
So, to the disrespectful students in the DUI simulation, I have two words: grow up.