Every 15 Minutes program educates Moorhead High students about impact of drinking and driving
May 5, 2017
“He destroyed his life because he chose to get in a car and drive that night,” Rylie Langer said about her older brother during her presentation to Moorhead High School juniors and seniors as part of the Every 15 Minutes program held May 4.
The four-part program included the living dead, a mock crash, a student retreat, and a mock memorial service and presentations. Every 15 Minutes is designed to show students the consequences of drinking and/or texting while driving and help students make positive decisions.
On Dec. 13, 2014, the car Tyler Langer was driving crossed the center line and hit a semi, killing Tyler’s best friend and severely injuring Tyler, who had alcohol detected in his system. Tyler suffered a traumatic brain injury. For a while he was cared for by his mother, but now he lives in a group home in Moorhead.
“He doesn’t have a whole lot to live for,” said his sister Kylie Langer, now a student at Minnesota State University Moorhead. “He can’t walk, he has trouble communicating, and he can’t feed himself.”
The presentation by Langer was part of the final assembly. The first part of the Every 15 Minutes program occurred on May 3, when students were removed from classes as part of the “living dead” and obituaries written by their parents were read to their classmates.
The students involved in the program were separated from family and friends overnight as part of a retreat.
One exercise the students did during the retreat was to write letters to their parents that began with the phrase, “Today I died in an alcohol-related accident and never got the chance to tell you...” Their parents also wrote letters to them.
On May 4, the students were part of the mock car crash. Police, fire fighters and paramedics responded to the mock crash.
As students returned to Moorhead High following the mock crash, they walked past the
Deutscher family’s crashed car on display
. In 2012, Aaron, Allison and 18-month-old Brielle Deutscher were driving to a family reunion in Bismarck, N.D. Allison was nearly four months pregnant with their second child. The family’s trip ended abruptly when a drunk driver with a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit hit the family’s car head-on on Interstate 94 near Jamestown, N.D.
Officer Scott Kostohryz with the Moorhead Police Department introduced the May 4 assembly. Students viewed a video of the events leading up to and the aftermath of the mock car crash, including the ambulance ride, emergency room treatment and, for the drunk driver, being charged with criminal vehicular homicide, among other charges, and going to jail.
Following the video, two students and their parents shared letters during the morning assembly. One student thanked her dad for being her best motivator and supporter. Her father read, “We never got the chance to say how much we trusted you and how thankful we are you were kind, caring person.”
Then Langer took the stage and shared the details of her story. She felt guilty for not having gone for pizza that night with her brother, who she described as a great person with alcohol and addiction problems. After his accident, she experienced depression because of the decision Tyler made. She asked the students to make good choices, to have a plan, and know who you can call.
“Surround yourself with positive people who will get you through hard times,” Langer said.
Dave Lawrence, Moorhead High School principal, concluded the program by reminding students that they will have choices to make and opportunities to intervene and help others make good choices.
“Some mistakes are final,” Lawrence said. “They aren’t made better by apologizing.”
Every 15 Minutes was developed in the mid-1990s, and at that time every 15 minutes someone died in an alcohol-related accident. The program is designed to challenge students to think about the consequences of driving impaired or distracted. For more information about the Every 15 Minutes program visit http://www.every15minutes.com.
Categorized under: School