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SOUTH WHITLEY - Teens, drunk driving and death are three terms that have become more than common locally this year.
The Whitko High School chapter of SADD addressed the problem Wednesday during an all-school convocation.
"It really bites that a tragedy like this had to happen to us," student Joey Hoagle said.
Hoagle, referring to the Nov. 1 drunk driving accident that killed John Johnson, 19, Adam Bernicky, 18, and Joshua Hartline, 16, was the first of several guest speakers to encourage the high school student body not to drink and drive. He said he was involved in a drinking and driving accident himself a year ago, but luckily survived. He then said he chose not to drive drunk again.
Randy Rose, a friend of the three teen-agers who were killed, told the student body what happened the night the three teen-agers died. He was with them at the party where they were drinking.
"It's the day I'll remember for the rest of my life. I had to say good-bye to the three greatest guys I knew," Rose said.
Rose said he had stopped drinking at the party after someone asked him to take them home. He talked to Hartline, whom he hadn't seen in a while. He remembered Bernicky playing "November Rain" by "Guns N' Roses" on the piano and the entire party went silent to listen. Rose said he remembered someone told Johnson not to drink and drive, but Johnson replied that he was good at drunk driving.
"He always drunk drove. We all got used to it somehow," Rose told the high school.
As the night progressed, Rose said, Johnson was dared to jump from a second story window. He took the dare. Rose said that Johnson was really "pumped up."
"He always liked to take risks," Rose said.
Eventually, everyone left the party, Rose said, and Johnson and Bernicky decided to stay longer than the rest. He said everyone had a good time that night.
The last time he saw Bernicky and Johnson alive, he shook their hands and told them, "I'll probably see you tomorrow. Keep it under 45 and you'll be all right."
Rose told the high school that all three of his friends had hopes, dreams and desires just like everyone else.
"I know they all had these things, but in a wink of an eye, they were gone," he said. "Because of a bad decision, it's all gone for them.
"If you're going to drink, remember that not driving drunk is the only thing that will keep you safe. Think about things before you do them. If you do, they'll cause you a lot less problems in the end."
Johnson's niece, Nikki Johnson, was the next speaker. She cried during her entire speech to the school.
"I lost someone very special to me. That was (John). He was my uncle and he was very special to me," she said.
She talked to him just the night before. She said she has missed the little things about him since.
"I miss him running up and down the stairs. I miss him reading his poetry, playing his music too loud and asking me for money," she said. "I know you think this can't happen to you, but it can. I know from experience."
Doug Jones, chief probation officer for Whitley County, also addressed the student body. Several students were in tears by the time Jones took the podium.
Jones said the impact that drinking and driving has had on the community has been large. He said there were about 100 juveniles on probation in the county at the time. There were about 300 adults on probation. Jones guessed that 90 percent were alcohol-related in some way.
"They would all say they set out to have a good time and look what happened," he said. "If it wasn't for alcohol or drugs, (the probation department) wouldn't have much to do."
The effects of alcohol, Jones said, are also more than legal trouble. He said alcohol can cause memory loss, impotence, liver damage, kidney damage, coma, anxiety, insomnia, brain damage, heart failure and even death.
"There's a whole set of negative consequences related to alcohol," he said. "If you're not responsible, it will happen to you. At your age, you're not supposed to be drinking anyhow."
In order to get his point across more effectively, Jones introduced Joseph Lairs. Lairs is currently on probation for battery.
"I'm an alcoholic drug addict. I started at age 16," Lairs said. "By 17, I was drinking a fifth of Jack Daniels a day. I started using crack cocaine and marijuana. It all started when I took that first drink."
Lairs, now 34, said people who say they don't care if other people like it or not are alcoholics. He said he knows from experience.
"My life is ruined due to drugs and alcohol. I have to rebuild my life. I've lost my family. I have no friends," he said.
"People say, 'It isn't going to happen to me, I'm a moderate drinker.' I was a moderate drinker.
"Anyone who takes a drink is a weak person. They use it to hide their feelings, to hide from people. It's a very, very rough road."
SADD sponsor Janice Weybright wrapped up the convocation with statistics for the student body to think about. She said 16- to 24-year-olds account for 20 percent of the drivers on the road. That age group makes up 20 percent of the miles driven on the road. And, she said, they account for 42 percent of the fatal alcohol-related accidents.
