Not talking for the whole school day was the hardest part for Megan Stefner, who volunteered to play the role of a ghost Friday at Richard Fowler Catholic Junior High School.
Stefner, 14, was one of 60 grade 8 and 9 students who played the role of a person who’d died as a result of a motor vehicle accident caused by an impaired driver.
Every 15 minutes one of the students would paint his face white as they changed into all-black clothing. Then she would return to her classroom and carry on with the regular day, but no one was allowed to speak to her.
“People would see my white face and they’d say, ‘Oh yeah, I can’t talk to you. You’re dead. It was weird,” said Stefner.
Stefner also saw her fellow white-faced volunteers as they walked silently back into her classes.
“I couldn’t talk to them. It helped me see what it would be like if something happened to them and they really weren’t there. I’d want to talk to them,” she said.
The symbolic exercise was part of a week-long awareness campaign at the school. The Grade 9 students attended a program called Prevention of Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (PARTY) at the Sturgeon Hospital.
“We also had a woman from Mothers Against Drunk Driving speak to the students about losing her son and a police officer spoke to the school,” said teacher Shawna Gallagher. “We also had a day where we set up crime scenes every hour in the school, with a body on the floor to represent how many people die in car-related accidents.”
On Wednesday the guest speaker was rock musician Robb Nash, who entertained with his band Live On Arrival. Nash told the students about his near-death as a result of an accident caused by reckless driving.
The Fowler youths were exposed to a number of gory details and had to face issues about death. The overwhelming effect appeared to be sobering.
“When you lose family members and they leave you it hurts,” said Garred Bambrick, 13. “Some of my friends saw me with a white face and they reacted very seriously to me.”
Luca Cupelli, 14, who also agreed to be a ghost for the day, related in a very personal way to the experience.
“My uncle died in a car accident before I was born,” he said. “There was no drugs or alcohol but still it was a family member who never knew me and who I never got to know just because of someone’s mistake. People didn’t think about the consequences.”
Some students found it eerily frightening to sit next to a close friend who was symbolically dead.
“I was not one of the white-faced people. But I think now I have a better understanding of what it feels like to not be here. It’s really tough on everyone else if you’re not here. It’s scary to think about it,” said Alessandra Parth, 14.
Hayley Saunders agreed. The 13-year-old also found not talking to be very difficult.
“I challenged myself because I talk a lot. But my friends would come and say, ‘Oh Hayley! You died! We miss talking you!’ Especially because you don’t say anything back, it was very powerful,” she said.
The students remained with their white faces and black clothing until dismissal at 3 p.m. Then the entire school lined up near the front door as the ghosts exited to the background music of Elton John’s Candle in the Wind.
