Argyle students face reality of DWI

Argyle High School students will learn a valuable life lesson during the last days of school leading up to summer vacation.

As part of the Shattered Dreams experience– a program on underage drinking– a motor vehicle crash reenactment will take place in the parking lot at Argyle High School that includes an actual response from police, fire, AirMed and other emergency responders.

The program is designed to educate students about the dangers of underage drinking and the tragic and severe consequences that can result from impaired driving, which will also include the dangers of texting in this year’s program.

Unbeknown to the student body, a dramatization of an alcohol related crash will be held, complete with police, EMS, Air Med and Medical Examiner’s office response and the arrest and confinement of one of the six student participants in Denton County Jail for the offense of drunk driving.

On Wednesday, residents may hear sirens and see multiple emergency vehicles on or around the high school campus, but should not be alarmed. After the crash reenactment, a student will be taken out of class every 15 minutes to represent the “living dead.” The accident victims and the “living dead” will have their phones taken from them until the program ends on Thursday. Their friends and family will not be able to reach them, just as if they were really involved in a fatal accident.

Students participating in the actual dramatization and the “living dead” will participate in an overnight retreat that evening where they will reflect on the day’s events and discuss how these bad decisions affect their lives and those who care for them. Local youth pastors and counselors will be leading and chaperoning the retreat.

The last day of the program is an assembly reflecting on the previous days events. The assembly will feature a video that captures all aspects of “Shattered Dreams” that the remaining student body did not witness, including notifying parents of the accident, hospital, funeral home and jail scenes. The student body will hear from a guest speaker who has lived through the perils and consequences of drinking and driving, and will be given an opportunity to make a pledge not to drive while impaired and not get in a car with someone who is impaired.

Traffic crashes, half of which involve alcohol and other drugs, are a leading cause of death and serious injury for young people ages 15 to 19 years. The purpose of the Shattered Dreams program is to educate the student body on the impacts of drinking alcohol, and texting while driving, and to prevent the deaths and injuries resulting from drinking alcohol/texting and driving.

The Argyle Independent School District is hosting its third two and half-day Shattered Dreams program in conjunction with the Denton County Emergency Services District, Argyle Fire Department and Argyle Police Department. This year’s program is coordinated by a committee of volunteer parents, teachers, administrators and various emergency responders in Argyle and Denton County. The program will be held in the Argyle High School parking lot beginning on Wednesday morning.

Due to the reenactment, the school entrance on Harpole Rd will be closed from approximately 9 to 11 a.m. Motorists are asked to use the Cook Street entrance to the school during these times.