The swarm of teens, preteens and adults slowly marched around the Capitol on Friday with red ribbons around their arms.

The third annual March of Sorrow drew at least 200 students from Santa Fe to deliver a message: Don't drink and drive. They also wanted to make it clear to legislators that they support even tougher DWI laws.

The event stems from a 2008 incident that left four teens, including two Santa Fe Preparatory School students, dead after a collision involving a drunken driver, although that driver was acquitted of charges that he caused the accident. The Santa Fe Underage Drinking Prevention Alliance has carried on the campaign and is working with Student Wellness Action Teams at eight Santa Fe public schools and St. Michael's High School.

Max Croy, 18, skipped two classes at Santa Fe Prep in order to attend the march along with some classmates.

Laura Hamilton, 17, another Santa Fe Prep student, has been working with a local nonprofit, Impact DWI, because she wants students to never forget the dangers of alcohol abuse.

Santa Fe Prep requires students to complete community service hours and gives them various options, including a project targeting alcohol abuse/DWI prevention.

Other schools, such as Capshaw Middle School, also have programs designed to help students make better decisions. On Friday, 11 of the school's basketball players and 24 cheerleaders showed up to the event.

Capital High School students Taylor Velazquez, Alonso Arana and Danielle Tafoya say they've been working with SWAT and have brought the issue to the forefront on campus via posters, balloons and stickers because they want a safe community.

"Students are ultimately role models for the schools," said Phil Lucero, SWAT program coordinator.

State Police Chief Robert Shilling agrees. "Peer pressure is a double-edged sword," Shilling said. "Young people tend to listen to other peers."

Shilling said parents also need to step in. "Parents need to build up the courage," he said. "They need to sit face-to-face and have those hard conversations that will make an impact."

Two bills in the Legislature's current session would affect anti-DWI laws: Senate Bill 111, which increases training for alcohol servers but decreases penalties for serving alcohol to minors; and House Bill 158, which would impose harsher penalties for repeat drunken-driving offenders.

Cynthia Delgado, community liaison for the Santa Fe Underage Drinking Prevention Alliance, said, "We want to remind elected officials that behind all these numbers are people, families who lost a loved one."

Contact Sandra Baltazar MartÍnez at 986-3062 or smartinez@sfnewmexican.com.