DARIEN, Conn. A student was pulled out of class every 51 minutes at Darien High School on Friday and not allowed to talk for the rest of the day. These students were now dead and served to remind their peers that somebody dies in a drunken-driving accident every 51 minutes.
At the end of the day, the 64 students stood silently in front of the school, each clutching a rose. Thus concluded Grim Reaper Day, an initiative sponsored by Students Against Destructive Decisions to raise awareness about the dangers of drunken driving.
You hear this statistic, or you read about it or talk about it with your parents and teachers. But to see your fellow students lined up like that, its haunting, said Lily Boe, president of the Darien chapter of the group.
The kids who signed up to be killed were sitting in class when other students, designated as Reapers, walked in and pulled them out in front of everybody. They then re-entered class wearing a T-shirt that read, Im just a memory now, along with a specific time of death. They were also given a piece of paper to hand to people, explaining why they were not talking.
Boe and her fellow group members said students and teachers took notice of the initiative. I was sitting in class when one of the other Reapers came in and took a student out. The teacher stopped the class and went on to talk about the importance of the event.
Teachers were not asked to take part, but Boe said many felt inspired to address the issue. Not a single teacher complained. They were all very, very encouraging.
Sami Testa and Emily Caccam said that when Darien High last held Grim Reaper Day two years ago, the sight of all the students lined up inspired them to join Students Against Destructive Decisions As parents drove past to pick up their kids, many slowed and stared at the line of students.
I think it had a bigger impact on the parents, said Angelica Cortez. A lot of the parents were like, Wow, that could be my kid. It makes it so real to them.
When Darien High last held Grim Reaper Day, the statistics said that somebody was killed every 31 minutes. Boe said, Im not saying that DHS changed the numbers, but I think events like this really inspire people and raise awareness.
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