CALABASAS : Skit Gets Message Across to Students

“The Breathalyzer says you have a blood alcohol level of .02,” the deputy sheriff said to a high school student he’d pulled over for erratic driving.

“Isn’t the legal limit .08?”

“You obviously aren’t aware of the new law.”

Fortunately for the student, he was performing a skit for 500 of his peers at Calabasas High School.

A group of students re-enacted a scene of drinking, driving and being pulled over by police in a schoolwide assembly to teach them about new 1994 traffic laws for minors.

The so-called zero tolerance law, which went into effect in January, prohibits minors from driving with any alcohol in their systems. Under the law, anyone under 21 caught driving after drinking will have his license suspended for a year.

The re-enactments went over well with the students, who said they preferred learning from their peers rather than being lectured to by adults.

“They made it fun,” said Mike Straney, freshman class president. “They used people we relate to and not just adults that would tell us, ‘You do this because we’re telling you to.’ ”

Several students said the skits reinforced their beliefs about the dangers of drinking and driving. Wendi Zevin, 16, learned of the law last month when she received information about it along with her license in the mail.

Others, like Jason Honigberg, a senior, said he was unaware of the law until he saw the skit.

Deputies from the Lost Hills Juvenile Intervention Team answered questions after the role playing.

Some students seemed surprised to learn that they are bound by the same laws if they drive while under the influence of drugs.

The students erupted into applause when one questioned the officers on the efficacy of breaking up parties and sending home kids who had been drinking.

“When we break up a party, we’re not telling you to get in your cars and drive away,” Rohrbach said. “There are other ways to get yourselves home.”