I've caught bits and pieces of the movie "Unstoppable". Not enough to know everything that is going on. There is a scene where there are children on the train and the teacher asks them what they do at a train crossing. The kids yell "Stop, Look, and Listen". She tells them she didn't hear them or something like that and they yell even louder "Stop, Look, and Listen!"
This section of the movie brought back many memories of middle school and tactics used to scare us kids into stopping at rail road crossing, not use drugs, and how to deal if we caught on fire.
When I was growing up there were no arms that moved down to stop traffic. Only lights and bells. And in our small town some crossings didn't even have those. I remember the graphic nature of those films we were shown about train/car collisions. They instilled a fear in me of "Stop, Look and Listen". Even to this day I remember those words and photos of what happens if a car tried to beat a train or didn't see one. The trauma was huge. Nowadays I depend on the arms of a crossing to be down. But I do take caution. Mostly due to middle school movies.
The stop, drop and roll films also worked to ingrain in my mind what to do if I ever caught on fire. I'm not sure I would actually remember to do so if I were in that situation. I would probably have to much adrenaline coursing through my body to stop, drop and roll. But then again, those words were so torched into me that I think I might just remember.
I also remember the movies that we were shown on drug abuse. I remember the films showing stomachs being pumped after people have overdosed on drugs. Of vomiting and DTs and other horrible things that happens to your body when you abuse drugs. Those films utterly terrified me. Terrified me to the point that I never tried drugs. Never wanted to be around them, period.
I don't believe those types of movies are shown anymore in schools. But I'm not sure and if not, I'm not sure why. Maybe the powers that be didn't believe they worked? And perhaps on some kids there wasn't an impression made. Or perhaps some believe fear is the wrong way to try to stop children and young adults from trying drugs or trying to beat a train.
I'm not sure, but I do know that the fear those films instilled a deep aversion to the thought of ever doing drugs or of beating a train. Much more than the "Just Say No" campaign years would have. That wasn't my era. My era was the fear era.
