Stumbling students struggled to walk a straight line in Coach Skelton’s Health Class, which was bad because the school resource officer was right there! No worries, though, as it was all planned out as part of the drug and alcohol unit in November. During the presentation, Officer Watkins had freshmen try out “drunk goggles” to learn what intoxicated people see, how they walk, and what it is like to execute simple tasks like catching a ball. Volunteers also performed field sobriety checks same as when an intoxicated person gets pulled over for a DUI (Driving Under the Influence).

Having a little fun isn’t so wrong, but drinking too much can be. When minds have been altered by alcohol, people can believe they are alright to drive. However, when they contribute to the 10,000 deaths by drunk drivers each year, they may regret having that last drink. Something that not a lot of people know is that drunk drivers are more likely to survive than the other people involved in an accident. The reason is they cannot feel pain, and their bones almost become like rubber.

Students were surprised to learn that mouthwash contains 0.02 alcohol, and people under 21 who drive with an open container of beer can go to jail. Also, the legal blood alcohol content [BAC] limit is not 0.00 — it’s actually 0.02 since people consume small amounts of alcohol everyday in things like toothpaste. The legal limit for those 21 and over is 0.08, but that doesn’t mean that it will take the same amount of drinks to intoxicate someone though.

“I learned that men have a type of hormone that girls don’t, which causes men to have a higher tolerance to alcohol,” Conner Seuasingnouane said.

Learning about BAC made an impression.

“No matter how small of a drink you get, your BAC will change,” Tori Wardlaw said.

Learning the effects of drinking got Benny Lekdavanh’s attention.

“When you drink a certain amount of alcohol, you can’t control yourself, and that’s scary,” Benny said.

Students also realized the long-term impact of alcohol abuse.

“What I will remember most is that innocent families die because of drunk drivers,” Tina Tran said.

Makeyli Tyson learned a valuable lesson.

“Make sure that drunk people don’t drive because I don’t want to die because of their stupidity,” Makeyli said.

Aside from the important details, students found humor in the presentation when volunteers tried on the “drunk goggles” and tried to walk a straight line and catch a ball.

“My favorite part about the drunk goggles was watching other people use them because it’s funny to see how other people react,” Syerra Lovan said.

Vince Phetchareun got to experience what it was like to be drunk.

“Wearing the drunk goggles was fun because I felt like I was falling and couldn’t help but laugh,” Vince said.