High School Worries That Safety Message Is Not Being Heard

Raleigh, N.C. — It's happened again.

For the third time in less than a year, the Wakefield High School family is mourning the death of a student in a car crash.

Last March, four Wakefield High School students died in a high-speed wreck involving alcohol. The next month, a Wakefield teen lost control of her speeding car.

Wakefield High Schools students hear from speakers in their classes and in special assemblies about the dangers of alcohol and speed all the time, but this weekend's accident has left staff wondering when is the message going to sink in.

Cynthia Terrell is a coach and teacher at Wakefield.

“One night, one mistake and then we have another funeral to go to,” she said Monday.

Terrell has speakers in her class regularly to talk about drunk driving. Tragedies like the death of senior Sadiki Young, 18, early Sunday make her wonder if she's getting through to her students.

“We're not telling you not to have fun. We just want you to be careful because sometimes your fun ends up like this,” Terrell said.

Students say they are getting the message and that they know what the right choices are. They just don't make the right choices every time.

Christine Hill, a student, said," Do you not understand that it's dangerous? Why would you do that to yourself and to your family members and to people that love you?"

Kaitlyn Ihley, a friend of Young, said, “We all want to prevent it from happening, yet we think it will never happen to us. It can always happen to anybody.”

Principal Mark Savage says the adults will keep looking for a way to get their message to catch on with every student.

“What I suppose you will see here in the next few weeks to a month is us looking for whatever that ‘more’ is that we haven't hit yet,” Savage said.