Educational Media Reviews Online

How Could This Happen is a poignant recounting of the events leading up to the death of Molly Amman, who died of alcohol poisoning, and describes the effects of drinking too much alcohol. The video interweaves interviews with family and friends, a recovery counselor, and health care professionals with dramatic playback of the events of the night Molly died to convey the seriousness of binge drinking.

One friend recounts that the two girls spent the evening playing “beer games, but not drinking any more than they usually did, but it did not appear that Molly was having any problems…and that she just put Molly to bed….” The recovery counselor indicated that teenagers are often unable to determine the effects or risks of behaviors as the part of the brain responsible for processing and long-term memory is still under development. This part of the brain is easily impaired following one or two drinks, which leads to less reasoning. Additionally, the health care professionals indicated that many persons do not understand the physical effects of consuming too much alcohol, such as blood toxicity and impairment to the respiratory system, which affects the heart and the brain, and which can ultimately lead to death. The physician indicates that the worst thing someone can do is to let someone who has had too much to drink to go to sleep; they need to be kept awake, or at the very least, keep on eye on them. One of Molly’s friends stated that: “…they never talk about how you can die just from drinking too much…”

The director of the film does a good job balancing personal narratives with medical information on the effects of binge drinking. There is an element of social responsibility that comes out toward the end of the film when one of the friends indicates that personal consequences shouldn’t matter if a call is made to save someone’s life. This video combines some of the same information as Underage Drinking: Is it Worth It?, which is also distributed by Human Relations Media. This video goes into more detail regarding the death of Molly Amman than does Underage Drinking, but both videos reinforce the dangers and long-term effects of binge drinking. This video will serve as a good resource in psychology, sociology, social work, social issues, and public health-related middle school and high school courses.