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New Texting While Driving PSA too Graphic?

teens texting driving

Scare Videos Don’t Work

A recent public service announcement originating from Gwent, Wales features a graphic car crash scene as the result of a teen girl texting while driving.

The Youtube video is making the rounds on Facebook and email chains, but unfortunately its message misses the mark. The traumatic and extended crash scene puts the focus on shock rather than learning.

Marsali Hancock, iKeepSafe President, says:

One challenge with the film is the missed opportunity to demonstrate or model the responsible actions we hope all cell phone users will implement while driving—or riding a bike.

Behavior change is more likely to happen when a teen hears the message from someone they know and trust (preferably a peer) and the message is "fun and easy".

The truth is that scare videos don’t work. (Or the driver’s Ed videos would have already stopped teen drinking and driving.) iKeepSafe hopes to be involved in creating media that will help teens internalize the consequences of texting and driving in a positive (minimally-traumatic) way.

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Categories: Cell Phone

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