Editorial: Mock collision an important high school event

Sirens screamed through the streets behind Morinville Community High School (MCHS) Wednesday morning. Police and firefighters arrived at the scene of a two-vehicle collision that claimed the life of one teenager and a ten-year-old girl and saw a young man charged with impaired driving. Then everyone took off the theatrical makeup and went back to class – well after an indoor presentation on impaired driving.

With graduation ceremonies scheduled for June, MCHS decided to take the important message of the consequences of impaired driving to graphic levels once again this year.

The annual event pooled multiple emergency resources, including The Morinville RCMP Detachment and Morinville Fire Department. EMS was called to a real emergency Wednesday morning and was unable to attend.

Police have told us at past events there are no local statistics on what effect mock collisions have on student behaviour, but students we’ve interviewed over the years say the event has had an impact on them.

Constable Peter Tearle, MCHS Resource Officer organized the event and said if the mock collision makes one young adult rethink a bad decision, then the event is well worth while.

With promising futures on the road ahead for our MCHS Grads, we hope Wednesday’s message struck home and stays with them. We also hope community resources will continue to partner to deliver the message to future graduates.

– SD

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