S.A.D.D.: Safe and Sober

By Sarah Cipolla
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Glenelg High School students who take part in the Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D) worked tirelessly throughout the school year to keep the community aware of the destructive decisions that reckless people can make. The week before prom, Seniors and Juniors participated in the Glenelg Ghost Out, tested out the drunk driving simulation, and listened to a presentation by a former Glenelg student.

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Glenelg High School students who take part in the Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D) worked tirelessly throughout the school year to keep the community aware of the destructive decisions that reckless people can make. The week before prom, Seniors and Juniors participated in the Glenelg Ghost Out, tested out the drunk driving simulation, and listened to a presentation by a former Glenelg student.

The Glenelg Ghost Out is a simulation of death amongst the Glenelg student population. Every period of the day, two students were taken out of class, “killed” by a destructive decision, and turned into a “ghost” for the day. Charles Onwumbiko, the Grim Reaper, entered the class and Student Resource Officer, Officer Willingham, announced their death to the class. An example may be running a stop sign, or being killed by driving under the influence of alcohol. As the “dead” student left the class, a rose was left in their place to signify their grave. The students were taken to get their makeup done by Delaney Smith, who did an excellent job using fake blood and bruise-colored eyeshadow. For the rest of the day, the “deceased” students had to remain silent and could not interact with others at the school.

The simulation was very effective because students became more aware of destructive decisions. Mckenna Rueter claimed that “I would miss my friends a lot if they actually died. The simulation does a good job making students aware of the dangers of destructive decisions. ” With more awareness, distracted decision-making may have decreased over the high risk, yet fun, prom weekend.

The next event GHS seniors took part in was the drunk driving simulation. During the simulation, the student was given a virtual reality headset to wear. The headset simulated reaction time and environment of a driver under the influence of alcohol. As the student sat behind a pre-programed steering wheel, they were able to feel the effects and dangers of driving under the influence. Many people thought the simulation was very hard and effective.
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Officer Willingham says simulations are very beneficial because they, “Help students open up conversation with their friends about driving under the influence. If there is a student perhaps making that decision, I would hope the simulation would show them not to get behind the wheel.” It is so important that teenagers are aware of the potential dangers of driving distracted. “Many times, students might be faced with the decision to drive distracted and feel pressure from others around them to do so. A well thought out decision should help them make a choice they won’t regret,” explains Officer Willingham. The simulations are a great way to arm students with solutions to potentially dangerous situations.

The last event that prom goers had to watch was a presentation from a recovering Heroin addict that used to attend GHS. Josh Hough was an ordinary young boy who grew up on a small farm and loved to play sports. He went to Glenelg, graduated high school, and attended Limestone college. There, he was injured and his abuse of drugs began. He shared stories about how he became homeless, was arrested for stealing guns, and all of the deaths he witnessed from the destructive decisions of his friends. Hough’s main goal was to make students more aware of the potential destructive decisions that some may make and to tell students that “there are consequences for your actions, just make the right decision so you don't have the deal with the consequences to a bad choice.”
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Overall, the week before prom is all about being safe and not sorry. The Ghost Out, drunk driving simulation, and the presentation were all very good reminders of what could happen if someone were to make a destructive decision. With that being said, we hope you stayed safe and sober over the prom weekend.