Crying wolf

Dear Editor,

A bluff?

A child yells to townspeople several times that there is a wolf headed their way. Each time he is only fibbing. This is obviously a classic children's story.

Nothing wrong with fibbing, right? Well there is something wrong. When the time comes that an actual wolf is headed toward the town he tries desperately to warn them but has long lost their trust. Oh how he must feel!

This simple children's story can be directly linked to a disturbing occurrence at the McCook Senior High on Wednesday morning.

Late into the student's second period classes they were all informed to stay in each respective class. Nothing was wrong with this. Almost every student just assumed that some person was trying to disrupt the student's classes and get to their emotions. Those students were all correct.

This time, however, the lockdown which eventually moved to the auditorium was not a bomb threat like in the past. As the student body chattered among themselves wondering how much longer they would be lucky enough to get out of the upcoming classes the news came in.

This was not a bomb threat like before. This wasn't a tornado drill. Officer Jerry Calvin informed the Senior High of a fatal car wreck that happened earlier in the morning.

He sadly mentioned that it involved alcohol and while a few MHS students were hurt, two had passed away. He quickly noted the legal matters of the case and stated that the names of the deceased could not be given until further notice. At this point many in the crowd wished this was just another bomb threat. Maybe even a tornado drill. It sure looked like a tornado had swept through the school. Faces of so many different emotions clearly stood out among the student body. Also on the stage with Calvin were MHS students who participated in the EMT training class. They had been called out of school to help with the crash. One student of the class stepped up to the front of the state with a microphone in her hand and emotionally told how she felt. She stuttered out the thoughts rolling through her head and how hard this all was. By this time most students can think nothing but the worst. The talk about it never happening to MHS was false. It had finally hit home. Or had it?

We were all now informed that the crash had even made the news. The administration thought it would be good for us to see the tape.

I am going to ruin the climactic ending. The whole thing was a hoax. Who decided that it was good for the entire student body to watch a news briefing of our fellow students supposedly getting killed? If this terribly situation ever was unfortunate enough to happen at MHS I would hope that as graduation nears for seniors and we make decisions that will forever change our lives we could at least make our OWN decision on whether or not we want to watch fellow students dead.

Would it still have been approved to watch the death of classmates if one of the classmates just happened to be a child of a school board member who was uninformed?

After watching the supposed taping by KSN News students began to get a little curious. Was this real? Many thoughts rolled through my head as I am sure did other students. In between the shock setting in some terrible acting took part. First off they interviewed a MHS student who had killed the other two students.

That happens to be illegal and morally wrong. KSN news even had the nerve to ask the student how she felt after killing two kids. Well if it had actually happened, there is an obvious answer. Next came the dreadful news. Officer Calvin announced the names of the students who had supposedly died. Cries and sounds I had never heard before from some of my classmates rang loudly throughout the now intense atmosphere in the auditorium.

These are sounds no one should have had to have heard. The emotions that were strung so sadly over these minutes that felt like days were highly unnecessary. Who says anyone has the right to tell students of a small community like ours that specific kids had just been killed in the fashion that was accomplished on Wednesday?

Some who argue that the mock crash was a good thing, attempt to push the point that it didn't mean to hurt anybody and they didn't think the reaction would quite be like this. They argue that if the assembly saved even one life it was well worth the hassle.

I come to the conclusion then that if I planned an assembly where I approached an administrator and informed him that one of his beloved children had been killed in a car wreck involving speeding, it would be just fine and dandy.

Maybe one kid might not speed anymore. Who cares about the emotions and feelings of the administrator when I eventually tell him that it is not real?

As long as I save one person's life it is OK. That isn't the way it should be.

Can anyone prove that the mock crash will actually stop any students from drinking and driving? I don't think so. Teenagers will NEVER think they can be beat. We are invincible. Nothing can stop this.

Surely adults can remember these fine days. Any student who chooses to drink and then drive isn't going to have the sense of mind to think back to an assembly and say to themselves, "oh yeah, I better not do that."

Just to give some information for those who are curious; when a person drinks alcohol they lose a lot of sense and concentration. Recently the real-life thing of a student being killed hit our area hard. Did this honestly stop any students from continuing to drink and drive? Why would an assembly accomplish anything then?

I don't believe that the mock disaster was at all needed. If it was believed by those in direct charge to be done then it could have been directed a little more sensibly. When it comes down to it, teenagers make their own decisions. An assembly will not affect them other than the fact that it struck the hearts of many hard.

Some positives did come out of the assembly though. I realized how much I will miss all of my friends and classmates when my final year is over. The tears and cries I heard and felt throughout the auditorium showed me a lot about our school.

We have many passionate kids who care about each other. None of us ever want to have to actually go through what we went through on Wednesday.

I do want to thank those who were involved in the mock crash. It does mean something to me that you cared enough about each and every one of our lives to put the time and effort into the production.

I just question the details of the assembly and it's timeliness with the community just recovering from a real tragedy.

I have but one final question. If there ever is a tragedy of any sort involving MHS students, how will they react to the situation? I truly hope the wolf doesn't jump up and bite them too.

Sincerely,

Justin Stoller

McCook