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When a death does actually occur, they bring in highly specialized crisis counselors (I have a friend who is one) to meet with the kids and help them work through it. This is done for a reason. Adolescents are very black and white and it's not unusual after something really does happen for a friend, boyfriend or girlfriend to attempt suicide to "be with" the person who died. Admissions on our psych unit would skyrocket after a high school student death with kids who were suicidal or depressed.. even kids who didn't know the deceased. Adolescents become hopeless very quickly. You have no idea what other issues/problems some of them are dealing with. When 5 of our kids from the high school marching band were in an accident (none killed, no drinking involved), the kids were downright hysterical. The MySpace pages of the kids involved had hundreds of posts within a couple hours. It is a major trauma for these kids, not a symptom of their being coddled. Additionally, it doesn't do what they hope for it to do. In the risk management training provided to Alpha Gam volunteers a few years ago, one of the things noted was that, after a drinking or alcohol related death on a campus, the effects of the loss last less than 6 months.
I don't think that anybody trained in adolescent development would believe that this was a good idea.
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