Published: Thursday, May 20, 2010
 

Bob Jones students sign pledge not to text and drive

Staff Reports
Madison Magazine

Texting has taken over the teen communication scene. A new study finds the main way teenagers talk nowadays is through text messaging.

One of the biggest problems is when teens let safety take a backseat and they text behind the wheel. A Virginia Tech study says when people text behind the wheel, they're 23 times more likely to get in an accident.

A major phone company and local school joined forces Tuesday to buck the trend in teens.

AT&T Regional Manager Dave Hargrove told a room full of Bob Jones High School students to break the rules today.

He asked them to take out their cell phones. It was part of AT&T's initiative on texting and driving.

One by one, students whipped out their cell phones and read the last text message they received.

"Last text message I received was from one of my best friends, so he was just telling me to come over afterwards," said Senior Zachary Phipps.

Then, Hargrove asked, was reading that text message worth hitting a car with a family of five inside?

"That doesn't need to be taken out during driving. There's a lot better times and places to do that," said Phipps.

Next, Hargrove told a story about a boy who was texting "where r u," but he never got the chance to type in the "u" because he crashed and flew through the windshield.

"The statistics just say if you text, there's a very high chance you're going to be in some type of accident," said Hargrove.

Students stood in line at the end of the seminar to pledge they would not text behind the wheel. Hargrove says the banner of signatures will hang in the hallway ... to create a conversation among students and help reverse the dangerous trend.

One in every three teenagers sends more than 100 text messages a day. The Pew Research study finds that's about 3,000 texts a month.