Teens in Action presents its play Distractions at the NBC 4 Annual Health Fair.

Teens in Action paused for a group shot after a long afternoon of filming the crash scene.

The mission of our project is to inform our teen peers and the community to the dangers of the ROAD and to provide educational activities and resources to promote safety and SKILL among drivers, their passengers, and the general public.

The Mission of Camp Fire USA Teen in Action is to Build Caring, Confident Youth and Future Leaders.

Through this project we are accomplishing both of these missions.

Teens in Action at Bishop McNamara High School have decided to address Teen Driving Safety Issues to include those things that distract young drivers. These issues include alcohol, drugs, smoking, distractions such as other youth in the car, cell phones, and eating and the issues of inexperience, speed, and road-rage. Given that so many of us are learning to drive, we think the time is now. As teens, we are in the transition period of our lives—that is we are going from being driven to being the driver. We want to make sure all of our friends are there for the ride and that everyone learns to be responsible and competent drivers. We know that teens at our school have made some bad decisions in the past and we want to be proactive in preventing these problems in the future.

We have also noticed that there are many kids at school who are afraid of driving. They are looking for more information and more support as they learn to drive. With all the media we will be using, we thing that this will make a difference in their learning no matter how they learn.

We selected these issues because we feel that they are key causes of problems for young drivers in our school and our community. We read many articles and see many news broadcasts that indicate that one or more of these factors have resulted in accidents and serious injury or death. We believe that with education, we can influence the behavior of our peers and change the way the think about driving.

We believe that the impact of hearing a message from your peers is more powerful than hearing it from adults or other media. When one of your peers comes to you and asks you to think about something in a manner that is non-conventional and provides a creative way to look at the problem, you tend to listen better. We think we have a strong message and that it will reach a good number of students in our school and community.

We believe that with education, the individuals in our school will be more aware of issues that impact teen drivers and how they can change their behaviors to be safer drivers and passengers. By educating the whole community, we will be addressing all those who have an impact on teen drivers such as parents, teachers, and peers. We also believe that by providing some education to younger children, we will prepare them for the time in their lives when they become licensed drivers. We will also give them the message that they make a difference as passengers and so they need understand how they can affect driving safety. We want to change behaviors, make our peers more aware, have them be more involved in healthy life choices, and develop more confidence in themselves as young drivers.

This program will be part of our service learning and safety education program. We will encourage teachers in all subjects to support the efforts of the youth and to look for ways that they can incorporate the safety messages into their course work.

It is the goal of Teens in Action and Camp Fire USA to include all organizations within the school in the activities planned by the students. This will include-SADD, Student Council, Parents Club, Activities Council, Dorothy Day Community Service, Photo Club, Tech Crew, Drama Club, the band and choir, to name a few.

It is the goal of this project to:
• provide youth with clear information on the how they can be safe drivers
• create a culture of Driving Safety
• create awareness of those issues and activities that may cause accidents, distractions, and unsafe environments for young drivers to collaborate with community partners to provide resources to students, parents, and faculty members.

This will be accomplished by:
• Student Planned assemblies for students, parents, and faculty
• Student Planned interactive learning activities
• Student Lead Discussion
• Student Designed exhibits
• Exhibits prepared and presented by community agencies
• Interaction between community mentors and students

Outcomes will include:
• Students will be able to identify unsafe practices that cause hazards to young drivers
• Youth will have meaningful relationships with caring adults who will act as mentors
• Youth will develop leadership skills by developing and leading activities related to driver safety
• Youth will be able to share the message of youth driving safety with others.
• Community agencies and Community members will engage in meaningful interaction and discussion with our students
• As a school there will be more emphasis given to healthy and safe life activities that support safe teen driving