FCCLA Members Show The Dangers of Texting When Driving
by Emily Chebuhar, Janessa Evert, Cori Renner
Recently, three FCCLA members have been working hard to educate teenagers about the dangers of texting while driving. This has become an important issue in the lives of both teenagers and adults. Many students admit to texting while they drive, and almost everyone has been the passenger in a vehicle that was driven by a driver who was texting. Texting while driving has become one of the leading causes of accidents and is taking more and more lives each day. This week Cori Renner, Janessa Evert, and Emily Chebuhar conducted several activities to help students better understand the harmful effects of their actions. First, they surveyed students asking them if they texted while they drove to school. Most of the students did not text on their way to school but admitted that they often do text while driving. They then asked students in several high school classes to maneuver through a set of cones while blindfolded. This represented trying to avoid other cars while driving and looking down to text at the same time. Students were then shown a video that portrayed what could happen if teens were texting while driving. The activity involved Janessa dressing up like the devil and tapping students on the shoulder to let them know that they died because they texted while driving. Students then had to remain silent until they were revived by answering an FCCLA question. Throughout the activities, they were given information about the dangers of texting while driving. The results of these activities will be used in the girls' STAR event and will hopefully be useful in further educating people about the dangers of this common activity.
