As the temperature gets warmer high school students start thinking about prom, graduation and all the parties that go along with summertime.

“When the warmer weather starts hitting, the parties start popping up,” said Albert Lea Police Chief Dwaine Winkels.

But before teenagers can get to parties that could involve alcohol and driving, local police officers want to remind students of the dangers of drinking and driving.

Margo Wayne’s 10th grade health class learned what it felt like to be intoxicated and drive May 14 during School Resource Officer Ted Herman’s fourth annual demonstration.

Students put on drunk goggles and tried to complete a field sobriety test. One such test had students count out loud to 30 while balancing on one leg. Another test had students walking heel to toe. Most kids wobbled and fell over or failed to walk in a straight line.

“They’re going to giggle a lot. They’re going to have fun, but they’re going to learn a lesson,” Herman said.

Tenth-grader Morgan Stadheim said wearing goggles and completing a field sobriety test made her feel like an “idiot.” She said her vision was shaky and blurred, and she had trouble focusing on something.

“It feels really different,” said Sarah Ogunkanbi, a 10th-grader. “You can’t even see anything.”

While wearing the goggles, students drove a golf cart through a course of cones. At one point students would drive straight and Herman yelled right or left to simulate an obstacle suddenly in the road.

Most students were driving 5 mph and couldn’t veer in time. Cones were often run over and crunched. Both the passenger and driver wore goggles to simulate what it’s like to drive and ride drunk.

“You couldn’t tell how far away stuff was,” said 10th-grader Cody Anderson.

Ninth-grader Traci Stork said driving with the goggles on was like “an awkward three dimensional movie.”

“I’m never going to drive when I’m drunk. I don’t trust myself. It’s not worth it,” Stork said. “When you’re a passenger you don’t think anything’s going to happen, but when you’re a driver you’re paranoid.”

Ogunkanbi said she learned to “never drink. It’s very bad for you.”

Herman said he holds the class every year to remind kids what happens when drinking and driving mix. And just before school’s out is the perfect time to do it.

Police see more underage drinking during the summer months because it’s easier to hide, Herman said.

“A lot of free time, a lot of mischief — We just want to remind them that if they make poor choices bad things can happen,” he said.

“At this age hopefully a lot haven’t tried alcohol yet. They’re at that point in their lives where they’re going to make those decisions now.”

Winkels said the police department’s goal is to raise awareness and prevent accidents.

Underage drinking and driving

Occurrence of DWI arrests for people under 21 in the 11 southeast counties of Minnesota

351 arrests in 2007

431 arrests in 2006

355 arrests in 2005

341 arrests in 2004

— Information courtesy of Supervisor/Investigator Bob Kindler with the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office