*As seen in the April 28 print issue of The Pitch.

 The jaws of life rip off the door of a white sedan, as senior Zach Hazlett and his sister, junior Hannah Hazlett, are dragged out of the car by uniformed fire rescue officers. A helicopter propeller beats the air overhead as it descends on the far end of the front WJ parking lot, where a medical evacuation will take place. Though the surrounding students know the event is only a simulation, the majority of the crowd is overcome with somber silence.

“It’s hard for them to stay the whole day without talking to anyone,” said Nogueira. “It takes a big toll on them.”

At lunch, two wrecked cars simulated a crash, with senior Cole Ahnell playing the role of the drunk driver. The extreme detail of the event, complete with the helicopter, police cars, fire trucks, and county officers, contributed to the seeming reality of the situation and the magnitude of its effects.

“I think this is actually really effective,” said sophomore Meghan Brennan. “It’s just really scary to see how this can actually happen, and all the consequences. A lot of people [were] really upset, and with the helicopters and the ambulances, it’s just really serious.”

The program appeared to be most powerful for those intimately involved in the program — the students who “died” and their friends.

Capt. Tom Didone, who heads the traffic division for the Montgomery County Police Department, worked with the WJ leaders on the event. He relates personally to the project, as he tragically lost his 15-year-old son in a non-alcohol related car crash in 2008.

“We know that the people that are dynamically involved in the Every 15 Minute program will have carry-over for years to come,” Didone said. “How many of those people out in the audience that witness this program will have a long term benefit? That is the unknown.”

Many questions have been raised as to the effectiveness of the program, especially due to the occurences at Magruder HS in Rockville this March. Every 15 Minutes planner Nogueira learned from Officer Bill Morrison that Magruder students held a party with alcohol the night after the event, which was busted by the same policemen who assisted with the Every 15 Minutes program at their school the previous day.

Emily Novick, Public Health Advisor for the Center of Substance Abuse Prevention, which is a subdivision of the Department of Health and Human Services, says that there are actually more effective ways to reach teens rather than the “scare tactics” used by Every 15 Minutes.

“People watch these things and say, ‘You know, I don’t think that’s true, because my friend Joe had a beer and drove, and nothing happened to him,’” she said. “There’s a credibility problem. It might have short-term effects on people, but when you look at the research on their behavior over time, it doesn’t change.”

According to Novick, more effective tactics, known as “social norming,” involve asking teens what they perceive to be the amount of drinking and driving in their area, which is usually a large percentage, and then informing them of the actual statistics, which is usually a much smaller percentage. Social norming works because it challenges students’ perceptions.

“If they have the real data and realize that everybody’s not actually doing it, then they realize it’s okay to not do it,” said Novick.

At this point, however, most students were impressed with the program and supported the premise behind it.

“A lot of people I know have ‘died,’ which has definitely been really scary and eye-opening,” said junior Maggie Gilligan. “I definitely think people are mature enough at this point to take this seriously and understand that this is something that is very real and present.”

The assembly on April 13 added to the chilling reminder that any peer could be killed as a result of a bad decision. A movie was shown depicting the previous day’s events, and a guest speaker, Officer Vic Kennedy, served as a powerful and emotional addition to the program. He told the story of his brother who was killed by a drunk driver in 1981, and left the students with a very significant image.

“Think about someone, anyone, that you love, and imagine that you are the one to kill them.”