In 2015, the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that the leading causes of death for adolescents ages 15-19 are accidents (unintentional injury), suicide, and homicide. Motor vehicle fatalities alone make up around one-third of all deaths to teenagers. The Hastings High Student Council chose to bring attention to this subject by partnering with Teens in the Driver’s Seat to emphasize driving risks.
The Walking Truth theme was carried out by Student Council members on Wednesday, April 25. It started with students wearing white clothing to school and then at some point in the day, they were tapped by other Student Council members. They then changed into black and carried around a story of how they died. The students were not allowed to speak to others or be active on social media. The purpose of this was for students to realize the risks and the effects of risky behavior while driving. Student Council sponsor Jim Fielder relayed the importance of knowledge of these topics and to watch for dangerous situations.
“I think youth, in general, don’t see the significance of things like there’s always going to be tomorrow. So sometimes you just take time off and recognize some decisions made have life implications. The Walking Truth was just to draw awareness to it, even if it affects one person that’s significant,” Fielder said.
Student Council members each received their own death. Each died in a different way by things such as drunk driving, texting and driving, and various types of distracted driving. Junior Cecilia Beahm felt the reality of car accident when she had to unplug and stay silent after she was given her death.
“It was hard, but staying off for the day gave an effect as if we really weren’t there and how others would feel your absence because you are always truly cared about by someone. It also showed how much it would have affected people that are close to you,” Beahm said. “It brought attention to you from non-friends and acquaintances that you would not normally talk to or hear from so it really does show how much one bad decision can impact others around you and brings attention to accidents like those and how to prevent them.”
Teens in the Driver’s Seat is an organization that offers education in traffic safety and major areas of risky driving. According to their website, on a per-mile-driven basis, teens are eight times more likely to die in their first six months of driving than adults. They go on to say that a majority of teenage deaths in motor accidents occur when someone else is driving. Teens in the Driver’s Seat is a peer to peer program that Hastings High adopted in the 2016-2017 school year with the help of members of Student Council. The Student Council thought it was important to keep influencing the program.
“We attended a conference where other schools had done something similar and they’ve had pretty good results from it. The students thought with prom approaching, people may make some risky choices and timewise this was a good opportunity,” Fielder said.
“I thought it was extremely realistic, there were a couple other people that had the same death as me which means we were in the same car and it shows how something like that affects everyone in the car and not just one person or another,” Beahm said. “It shows just how important it is to make the right decision because it can mean someone else’s life is at stake as well as yours.”
