School: Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Track: Youth Class: Topic Library — Teen Life & Law (Year 1 Foundations) Presented by: Minister Destiny Marie Morgan, Muslim Ordained Minister
This lesson is educational information and is not legal advice. Laws vary by state. If you are in danger right now, call 911.
Before you start
- This space is private. Nobody sees what you read or answer. Your progress stays on your device.
- We never ask your name. Not here, not on the test, not on the certificate. If you earn a certificate, you download it and write your own name on it after.
- Pass the test at 80% or higher to earn this unit's certificate. You can retake the test as many times as you need — each retake presents the questions in a different order, with the answer choices in a different order too. Answers are not shown: go back and find what you missed.
- If you are in danger right now: call 911. If you cannot talk out loud, text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) or call or text 988 any time, day or night.
- This unit teaches the ride-home rule. The person left behind did nothing wrong by trusting a ride.
The lesson
Part 1. The ride-home rule
The rule, first and plain: If you brought them, you bring them back — or you arrange and pay for a safe way home, and stay until it arrives.
Distance, darkness, a dead phone, an argument, a breakup five minutes ago — none of it changes the rule.
The common case: a girl driven somewhere by a date, left there when the night went wrong. The rule binds whoever is driving, toward anyone they brought.
Part 2. What "stranded" really means
Stranded can mean no shelter, a dying phone, walking roads with no sidewalks in the dark. Weather harms fast: a Massachusetts winter night can injure in an hour; summer heat does its own damage.
It also means strangers whose help has a price, and the hitchhiking trap — pressure to accept rides a person would never choose when safe.
The danger is the situation itself: defenseless, unfindable by family, findable by the wrong person.
Part 3. When leaving someone becomes a crime
Charges always depend on the facts, but Massachusetts law has real doors here.
(a) Reckless endangerment of a child — Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 13L. "Child" means under 18. It covers wantonly or recklessly creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or sexual abuse to a child, including failing to take reasonable steps to reduce such a risk where the person has a duty to act — up to 2½ years in the house of correction. Stranding a younger teen in a dangerous place can fit. Honestly: it does not cover an 18-year-old passenger the same way; other charges then depend on the facts.
(b) Confinement / kidnapping — ch. 265, § 26. Forcibly or secretly confining or imprisoning a person against their will — up to 10 years in state prison, at outline level. If someone was driven somewhere under false pretenses, kept from leaving, or had phone, keys, money, or ride taken so they could not leave or call, the "stranding" may have begun as confinement.
(c) Stacked charges. If the driver was impaired, driving crimes stack on top — see "Parties, Drugs & Drinking." If a stranded person is hurt or dies, prosecutors look at negligence- and recklessness-based charges, including manslaughter theories built on a duty to act (the case below).
(d) Beyond court: civil lawsuits, school discipline and team removal, a record that follows you. Never bet your future on "leaving isn't a crime."
Part 4. The passenger who cannot help themselves
Anyone drunk, high, sick, asleep, or passed out in your car is your responsibility until safe with a sober adult, family, or medical care.
Never eject them onto a roadside. Never leave them alone in a parked car — parked cars kill in heat and cold.
If they may have alcohol poisoning or an overdose, call 911 and stay. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, § 34A protects a person who in good faith seeks medical help for an overdose from being charged with drug possession on the evidence that surfaces because they called (see also "Parties, Drugs & Drinking"). Getting help fast is always the protected move.
Part 5. If you already left someone
Use the repair protocol, now: go back if you safely can; call them; if you cannot reach them or they may be hurt, call 911, give the exact location, and say plainly what happened; tell a parent or trusted adult the whole truth the same night.
Fast honesty is the only version that limits harm — to them, and to you. Silence turns a terrible decision into a catastrophe and a courtroom.
Part 6. If YOU are the one stranded
Prepare before nights out: charge your phone, share location with family, keep a ride-home contact and small cash or app payment ready — see "Cars, "Private" Places & the Law."
If it happens: stay where people and light are — open businesses, fire and police stations are safe waiting places. Call family, a trusted adult, or a paid ride. If unsafe, call 911 — helping a stranded teen get safe is a legitimate use, not a bother.
Never accept a ride from a stranger who stops, however kind they seem. If your phone dies, go into the nearest open business and ask them to call.
Words to know — Never Leave Anyone Stranded
- Stranded — left with no safe way home and no way to reach help.
- Reckless endangerment — wantonly or recklessly creating a serious risk of harm.
- Substantial risk — a real, serious risk, not a small one.
- Duty to act — a legal responsibility to take reasonable steps, from your role or a danger you created.
- Confinement — forcibly or secretly holding a person against their will.
- Incapacitated — unable to help oneself, from drink, drugs, illness, or sleep.
- Alcohol poisoning — a life-threatening reaction to drinking too much.
- Good Samaritan law — here, § 34A's protection for seeking medical help for an overdose in good faith.
Myths vs facts — Never Leave Anyone Stranded
- Myth: Leaving someone isn't illegal, it's just mean. Fact: See Part 3: § 13L, § 26, duty-to-act charges — depending on the facts.
- Myth: She had a phone, so she was fine. Fact: Batteries die, signals fail, exposure does not wait.
- Myth: He was drunk, so whatever happened is his fault. Fact: Incapacitation increases your duty; it never blames the person who cannot help themselves.
- Myth: If I go back or call, I'll definitely be arrested. Fact: § 34A protects the overdose call; adults and prosecutors credit fast honesty.
- Myth: Calling 911 is for crimes only. Fact: Stranded and unsafe is a proper 911 call.
Think it through — Never Leave Anyone Stranded
After a party argument, a 17-year-old driver leaves a 16-year-old friend at a closed rest area 20 miles from home at 1 a.m. in February, phone at 4%. What should the driver do?
Walk it through: (1) Rule (Part 1): a ride back or a paid safe ride, staying until it arrived — an argument changes nothing. (2) Exposure (Part 2): closed rest area, February cold, darkness, dying phone. (3) Law (Part 3): passenger under 18, substantial risk, a duty to act — § 13L is the door. (4) Next ten minutes (Part 5): turn around, call; if no answer, call 911 with the exact location and tell a parent tonight.
Cases & codes to study — Never Leave Anyone Stranded
Commonwealth v. Levesque, 436 Mass. 443 (Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, 2002)
- The facts: Two people living in an empty Worcester warehouse accidentally knocked over a candle and started a fire; they got out and, though they passed open stores and had chances to call, never reported it. Firefighters searching the building for people inside were killed — six firefighters died.
- The question: Can failing to act — not reporting a danger you created — support involuntary manslaughter charges?
- The ruling and the outcome: The SJC said the evidence was sufficient for the prosecution: creating a dangerous situation gives a duty to take reasonable care to prevent the harm, and a wanton or reckless failure to act on it can be manslaughter.
- Why it matters to you: Walking away from a danger you made, or a person you put in danger, is itself legally serious. This is the duty-to-act case, not a driving or stranding case.
- 📄 Court document: https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/59147b84add7b0493441e5d6 (CaseMine — full text of the SJC opinion).
The law itself — read the real words
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 13L — reckless endangerment of a child under 18, including failing to act where there is a duty. Read it: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter265/Section13L
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 26 — forcibly or secretly confining or imprisoning a person against their will. Read it: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter265/Section26
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, § 34A — Good Samaritan protection for seeking medical help for an overdose in good faith. Read it: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXV/Chapter94C/Section34A?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--8KigXn4Zob3Jougy-UHqEpeyXExKkM6iNleIjFgbApSsNevdqmfAsBDHW-5vsOsYwC_l-
Where to read the real thing, free: Massachusetts Legislature (malegislature.gov); CourtListener (courtlistener.com); Google Scholar (scholar.google.com).
Try this — Never Leave Anyone Stranded
- ☐ Set the ride-home rule with your friend group, in words
- ☐ Save a "get me home" contact and payment method
- ☐ Practice the repair-protocol call script: location, what happened, what you need
- ☐ Agree the passenger rule: stay until a sober adult, family, or medical care takes over
Resources to keep — Never Leave Anyone Stranded
- 911 — in danger now, stranded and unsafe, or medical help needed.
- 988 (call or text) — support any time.
- Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741 — type instead of talk.
- RAINN: 1-800-656-4673 — help after sexual harm.
- Childhelp: 1-800-422-4453 — if an adult is pressuring or hurting you.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 — safety planning.
What you earned / what's next — Never Leave Anyone Stranded
✅ Never Leave Anyone Stranded complete (quiz score 80% or higher): You can state the ride-home rule, name the legal doors, care for a passenger who cannot help themselves, and work the repair protocol.
Your certificate
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Certificate of Completion — Never Leave Anyone Stranded
This certificate is presented by Muslim Ordained Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
Awarded to: ______________________________ (write your name here after you download — your name is never collected or stored by this school)
Date completed: ______________
You did it, and I am proud of you. Keep this promise: nobody who rides with you is ever left behind. — Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
This is a certificate of educational completion from Minister Destiny Testimony Schools. It is not a state license, a government certification, or legal training for representing anyone.
What's next: Return to the Topic Library for your next Year 1 Foundations unit.
Sources
- Commonwealth v. Levesque, 436 Mass. 443 (Mass. 2002) — duty to act: wanton or reckless failure to act on a danger you created can support involuntary manslaughter.
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 13L (Mass. Gen. Laws) — reckless endangerment of a child.
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 26 (Mass. Gen. Laws) — kidnapping and confinement.
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, § 34A (Mass. Gen. Laws) — Good Samaritan overdose protection.
- Massachusetts General Laws — Massachusetts Legislature (malegislature.gov) — official text of the laws taught.
- University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, Criminal Law (2015), Open Textbook Library (open.umn.edu) — omission liability / duty check.
Your Progress — On Your Device Only
- Learning outcomes: On completing this unit, the student can:
- State and apply the ride-home rule.
- Explain what being stranded exposes a person to.
- Describe ch. 265, § 13L and § 26 at outline level.
- Explain the duty to an incapacitated passenger, and § 34A's protection.
- Work the repair protocol, and the safety steps if stranded.
- Study time: Approximately 0.5 hours — an estimate covering reading, activities, and the test. Students move at their own pace.
- Assessment: A 10-question test drawn only from this unit's lesson. 80% or higher passes and earns the unit certificate. Answers are not shown; your score is saved only in your own browser on this device, and retakes are allowed.
- Level: Topic Library — Year 1 (Foundations) · Youth school · working rank on completion path: Freshman → Sophomore.
- Version: Version 1.0 — October 2026.
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools — Youth. Educational information only, not legal advice. Help lines: 911 · 988 (call or text) · Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) · Childhelp 1-800-422-4453.