School’s Drunk-Driving ‘Accident’ Isn’t a Hit : Safety: A staged morality tale about the dangers of getting behind the wheel after drinking leaves some Saugus High students shocked, resentful.

Their faces pale with shock, hundreds of Saugus High School students watched Friday as the body of a popular teacher was lifted into an ambulance, while sheriff’s deputies gave a field sobriety test to the drunk driver who allegedly mowed him down in the school parking lot.

But much to the anger of some grieving students, the real surprise came an hour later when the same teacher got on the school’s public address system, very much unhurt, and announced the “accident” had been staged.

It was meant to teach students an unforgettable lesson about the perils of drinking and driving, teacher Bill Bolde told them.

Such accidents, which have also been staged at schools elsewhere, draw conflicting comments from experts on whether the educational benefit outweighs the shock and resentment some teen-agers experience.

“I’m sorry to make your lunchtime a little uncomfortable, but we had a good reason for it,” Bolde told students on the intercom, explaining that sheriff’s deputies and paramedics had helped with the ruse. “During this time of holidays and good cheer, there are so many useless deaths from drinking and driving.”

Bolde’s sophomore class broke into howls of astonished relief at the announcement.

But to the teacher’s chagrin, the hoax angered some students, particularly those who were friends of a 15-year-old classmate killed two years ago by a sober motorist.

Bolde “looked exactly like Josh Fulbright did lying there on the ground,” said Nicole Raquepo, 15, referring to her dead friend.

“I thought Mr. Bolde was going to die too.”

“What they did was dog meat,” screamed Brittney Ketchum, 15. “It scared everybody.”

But other students were more nonchalant.

“It was a good reminder of what can happen to anyone at any time if you drink and drive,” said Jeff Martin, 15.

The technique has also been used in the Torrance Unified School District and at dozens of other schools nationwide, said Anita Butler, director of education for the Los Angeles chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which advocates the method.

“All the lecturing you do doesn’t do as much good as personal experience like this,” Butler said.

“It’s a rather grim realism, but it’s effective,” said Leah Olson, the Torrance district’s community liaison for prevention of substance abuse.

But Fran Stott, a professor of adolescent psychology at the Erikson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development in Chicago, denounced the technique and predicted the students’ angry reaction in an interview before the event.

“It’s deceptive and I’m not sure anything good can come of it,” Stott said. “Kids can learn a lot more through identifying with positive role models and other more ethical methods.”

Bolde staged the incident in the school parking lot with the help of the campus chapter of Students Against Driving Drunk. Dirt smeared beforehand on his clothes, the moustachioed health and driving teacher, 34, was lying face down when students flocked to their cars at the start of the lunchtime recess.

Meanwhile, SADD members guarded the five campus phone booths to prevent students from calling 911 and involving uninformed authorities. Bolde’s friend, college student and actor Chris Drap, 25, played the role of the drunk driver, spilling Coors Light beer over his sweat shirt and weaving convincingly during a field sobriety test by sheriff’s deputies.

As paramedics tucked a backboard under the prone teacher, an ashen-faced Shaun Burnside, 17, whispered to a reporter: “He’s like a dad to me.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department initially had some qualms, but let two deputies participate after school officials agreed to have the district psychologist and peer counselors at the scene, said Deputy Clint Bowers.

Ketchup and hamburger have been used elsewhere to simulate blood and viscera, but the Sheriff’s Department recommended that Saugus High avoid being “too graphic,” Bowers said.

So, Bolde pretended only to have suffered a broken leg and concussion.

When it was all over, Bolde and members of SADD tried to explain why they played the trick on the school.

“We didn’t do it to be mean,” said Fran Marbury, 15.

“I think they’re going to be angry for some time,” Bolde said. “But I hope they realize we’re just trying to save lives.”