Every year around prom and graduation, students from hundreds of high schools throughout the country participate in dramatic crash reenactments and assemblies that address the issue of drunk and distracted driving.

Vashon High School has not participated in such an event in about a decade, according to Vashon Island Fire and Rescue Chief Hank Lipe.

Now, on the heels of three DUI deaths in just over a year and with a pervasive culture of drinking and drug use among the island’s youth, there has never been a better time to bring the shock factor-based alcohol prevention tactics back. School officials have said that the approach might be too heavy-handed for students raw from the loss of their friends, but those raw emotions and loss could potentially make the message stronger.

Multiple organizations are available to help train school officials and help with the implementation of the reenacted crashes and assemblies. One such organization is Every 15 Minutes. According to its website, a person in the United States dies from an alcohol-related crash every 15 minutes. To illustrate this point in schools, the program involves sending a grim reaper to pull a student from class every 15 minutes, accompanied by an announcement on the loud speaker. This happens all day until a midday crash reenactment occurs, where local emergency personnel respond to a fatal crash due to a drunk driver. Complete with realistic makeup, the fire department’s metal-cutting Jaws of Life, helicopters and emergency vehicles, at least one student is pronounced dead as others react to the news. The student’s obituary is read and the student’s parents are taken through the process of identifying their child. The experience is gut-wrenching and yes, students cry, even those who have had no real-life tragic experiences.

This emotionally charged and gruesome reminder of the consequences of drunk driving are not things that should be shied away from. Teenagers harden themselves to emotions and put on apathetic and sometimes selfish faces to seem “cool” to peers so it sometimes takes extreme measures to get through to them. Programs like this were created for that reason.

But the talking cannot end there. According to a 2005 study, “Effectiveness of School-Based Programs for Reducing Drinking and Driving and Riding with Drinking Drivers,” published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, in order “to maximize the effectiveness of school-based interventions, they must be part of a larger community effort.”