CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Kenwood High School student Shanon Tarbox will admit it: he used to text and drive. The friendly senior who loves playing football and working in his school’s TV station says he thought nothing of glancing down at his phone to send or receive a quick text message. But now, Tarbox, and several of his fellow students are on a mission to reduce the number of drivers who text while behind the wheel.
Why the change of heart for this student about texting and driving? He participated in daylong leadership training at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Kenwood High School (KHS) was selected as one of 15 schools across Tennessee to participate in the “Be In The Zone” (BITZ) campaign this school year. Under the direction of KHS teacher Amy Jackson Kenwood students will plan and execute a series of events designed to get the word out about the dangers of texting and driving and reduce the number of drivers who text.
Jackson says her core student leadership team for this campaign includes Tarbox, along with seniors Mya Hill, Ze’Quan Hunter, Lea Polk, and junior, Kelsey Thornon. Those students spent an entire day at Vandy being educated on the dangers of distracted driving and now are leading the event planning.
“It is so ironic that the morning I was going to the training, I had actually texted a student while I was driving to say I was running late,” Tarbox said. “By the time we took our lunch break I realized how lucky I had been not to cause a wreck, and how stupid I was to think it couldn’t happen to me.”
The students learned that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States. They also found out that texting while driving increases the risk of having an accident by 23%. In a recent unannounced observation on the Kenwood campus after school the students found 15% of adult drivers and 23% of teen drivers were on their phones.
Right now the BITZ group at Kenwood is busy gearing up for several months of educating the community. By the end of the campaign the team will find out if their efforts were enough to win the grand prize: $10,000. But, the students say the real prize will be if they can keep their friends, their parents, and themselves from becoming a tragic statistic.