Student video offers sober view of drinking

With graduations just finishing and the summer in full swing, state and city officials have plans to combat underage drinking.

'Shattered Dreams Hawaii' will air on 'Olelo Channel 56 Today: 5:30 p.m. Tomorrow: 10:30 p.m. Next Saturday: 5:30 p.m. June 24: 10 p.m. To report any underage drinking, call the 24-hour city hotline at 523-4191.

But they're not the only ones with fresh ideas.

Kaimuki High School students unveiled their weapon in the fight against underage drinking Thursday, as part of the second year in the city's "Be Smart, Don't Start" campaign that began last year.

A student-generated video of a mock car crash, titled "Shattered Dreams Hawaii," depicts a drunken student getting behind the wheel of a truck and hitting and killing two pedestrians and a passenger. The video -- complete with fake blood, crying friends and family, and police, funeral and court scenes -- doesn't shy away from the gore and pain.

"I thought it would be the most effective," said senior Traci Ann Taniguchi, the driving force behind the effort. "It's visual."

The students finished filming on May 14, and since then, junior Shasta Yamada, assistant director and chief editor, and senior Ilaisa Mikaele, producer and director, have spent countless hours at school cutting down 60 hours of footage to under 30 minutes.

Now, after seven months in the making, the video will air on 'Olelo (Channel 56) today at 5:30 p.m., and tomorrow at 10:30 p.m.

In a news conference Thursday, Mayor Mufi Hannemann recognized students from Kaimuki, Roosevelt and Kapolei for their efforts in the campaign. The other two schools soon will participate in their own mock car crashes.

"The youth, this time, are leading the adults," said Hannemann, who supported the idea after Taniguchi came to the city for help with the project.

Hannemann said the city will air the video at satellite city halls, motor vehicle licensing stations and the city's Sunset on the Beach events.

According to Taniguchi, Kapolei is planning a holiday mock car crash in November, and Roosevelt is planning a prom mock car crash in the spring.

Aside from the city's underage drinking campaign, the state is coordinating a six-month effort to more strictly enforce underage drinking laws.

According to Honolulu police Sgt. Bob Lung, chairman of the Hawaii Partnership to Prevent Underage Drinking, underage individuals working with police will go into 500 stores randomly selected statewide and try to buy alcohol.

Police will also be combing parks and other venues that enable adolescent drinking.

Those who drink alcohol before age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol-dependent than those who first drink at the legal age of 21.

"We're out to find ways to counter a culture that makes alcohol both appealing and accessible to children," said Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona in a news release. "Childhood drinking must not be tolerated in our state."