School takes shock tactics too far in efforts against drunken driving

At a high school in Oceanside, Calif., highway patrol officers and faculty members announced that an unbelievable 26 students out of the 3,100 who attend the school, had died in drunken driving-related accidents over the weekend.

The truly shocking part about this horrific story: it wasn't even true. The school decided to scare the students to keep them from drinking and driving.

As the story spread across the school, students were crying hysterically in the halls: they were truly and understandably traumatized by the "accidents."

Yes, trying to prevent drunken driving is extremely important. We understand the seriousness of drinking and driving and the sad results it can, and usually does, yield.

However, shocking teenagers about fake tragedies is not the way to go about it. This was a horrible attempt to scare these kids into safety.

There are enough real-life tragedies from drinking and driving accidents. No one needs to make them up.

In reality, students can be told over and over to make the right choices, but it's up to the individual when they get behind the wheel. Most everyone knows what can happen when one drinks and drives, but some chose to anyway.

Instead of taking advantage of these malleable youths' emotions with lies and fake stories of death, why not teach them to do the right thing so they value their lives and the lives of others?