One definition of terrorism involves using fear and intimidation to scare innocent people, which is exactly what MADD and the police department did in El Camino, CA.

Many juniors and seniors were driven to tears – a few to near hysterics – May 26 when a uniformed police officer arrived in several classrooms to notify them that a fellow student had been killed in a drunken-driving accident.

The officer read a brief eulogy, placed a rose on the deceased student’s seat, then left the class members to process their thoughts and emotions for the next hour.

The program, titled “Every 15 Minutes,” was designed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Its title refers to the frequency in which a person somewhere in the country dies in an alcohol-related traffic accident.

How the hell is this allowed to happen in schools? Teachers can’t look cross eyed at a student without losing their job, but MADD and the cops can mentally torture them for a day because they claim it’s in their best interests?

Though the deception left some teens temporarily confused and angry, if it makes even one student think twice before getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated, it is worth the price, said California Highway Patrol Officer Eric Newbury, who orchestrates the program at local high schools.

“When someone says to me, ‘Oh, my God, you’re traumatizing my children,’ I’m telling them, ‘No, what I’m doing is waking them up,’ ” said Newbury, whose father was killed by a drunken driver.

“If you don’t do your job as a parent … the only thing I can do is either arrest them and take them to jail or scrape them off the ground and tell you, ‘I’m so sorry.’ ”

Hat tip: The Agitator, and also Skip Olivia, as I lifted the terrorism analogy from his comment.