The facts about drunk driving are scary. Two out of every five people will be involved in an alcohol-related car crash during their lifetime. Someone is killed in an alcohol-related traffic accident every 33 minutes. Claiming over 3,000 teenage deaths every year, drinking and driving is the leading killer of young people. Terrifying, right?

But sometimes, using fear is a powerful way to communicate a serious message. That's the idea behind Ghost Out and Every 15 Minutes, two programs designed to scare the alcohol temptation out of teens.

Ghost Out isn't a costume party by any means - it's an alcohol and drug awareness demonstration aimed at teenagers. Usually orchestrated by Students Against Drunk Drivers (SADD) members, student government, parents, community leaders, and teachers, its main focus is to raise awareness about the consequences of drunk driving.

Ghost Out is hyped in the weeks approaching the event. During the week of the demonstration, literature is distributed with facts, information, and statistics on the ultimate dangers of drinking and driving. The climax comes on Friday, the final day of the Ghost Out. A participating student dresses up as the Grim Reaper and stalks a school's hallways, selecting, or "killing," a student every 33 minutes. By day's end, a large group of students are declared dead, and there are mock memorial services held for the "victims," making for a highly powerful and moving experience.

Another national school initiative, "Every 15 Minutes," is just as graphic and morbid a presentation. The shock value-type simulation about the dangers of drinking and driving is used to show students just how at risk they are when they drive drunk. One of the most powerful components is when students are taken through an audio and visual simulation of their own death. Afterward, each student writes a letter to his or her parents starting out with the phrase: "Dear Mom and Dad, every 15 minutes someone in the United States dies from an alcohol-related traffic collision. Today, I died. I never had the chance to tell you..." Parents write similar letters to their children, and they are exchanged the following day.

-Paul D. Rosevear

Shattered Dreams, Utter Embarrassment Flick: Mean Girls (2004)
Drunk: Cady Herron (LINDSAY LOHAN)
The Gist: After the home-schooled teen transferred to public school, she felt the need to fit in. In a twisted plot to connect with the "Plastics" (cool girls), Cady found herself morphing into one. At her house party - mom and dad were away for the weekend, of course - Cady had a few too many gulps of alcohol.
Price Paid: Cady got sick. Mid-conversation with the hot guy she's been eyeing, she threw up! Even worse - she threw up on him! Seconds later, he ran out the door completely grossed out.

Bad Hair Day Flick: Sixteen Candles (1984)
Drunk: Caroline Mulford (HAVILAND MORRIS)
The Gist: Caroline's a party girl. At a shindig she threw at her boyfriend's house, she got drunk.
Price Paid: Drunk Caroline was out of it. Her hair got wedged in a door and a fellow drunken friend cut it to set her free. After that, the partying didn't stop. She eventually blacked out and found herself the following morning with an ugly haircut and the biggest geek in school.

Public Scrutiny Flick: Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
Drunk: Mike Dexter (PETER FACINELLI)
The Gist: Ahh, the last day of school. Huntington High's to-be grads are partying with booze. After a break-up with the most popular girl in school, star athlete Mike drank, drank, and drank some more. Meanwhile, the revenge of three nerds awaited him.
Price Paid: Once Mike was drunk, the geeks took lewd pictures of him in compromising positions. (Ewww!) Years later, the pictures surfaced and he lost his job.

Victimization and Arrest Flick: Body Shots (1999)
Drunks: Sara Olswang (TARA REID) and Mike Penorisi (JERRY O'CONNELL)
The Gist: girl meets guy at a rave... Sara and Mike, two party animals, somehow black out from excessive drinking.
Price Paid: Sara finally wakes up - disheveled and bruised. She claims Mike raped her, and he gets arrested. But did he do it? He blacked out, too. No one knows what happened for sure. What a mess!

Shattered Dreams Flick: Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
Drunk: Beverly D'Onofrio (DREW BARRYMORE)
The Gist: The bright and ambitious Beverly dreamed of going to a New York City college to become a writer. Aspirations were put on hold when she developed an interest in boys. At a party, she got tipsy, and somehow ended up making out with a boy from her high school.
Price Paid: One thing led to another, and Beverly found herself pregnant. Soon after, her goals became difficult to attain. A wife and mother at the age of 16, her life eventually spiraled down to financial mishaps, a failed marriage, and her husband's heroin addiction.

-Ysolt Usigan

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