That’s a Wrap! #GYTSM14
What a great month of May! During Global Youth Traffic Safety Month (GYTSM), the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility was as busy as ever with our outreach efforts on teen driver safety.
This month we announced our sponsorship of brand new research on teens and distracted driving published as a supplement in the May issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, entitled “Driver Distraction: A Perennial but Preventable Public Health Threat to Adolescents.” The supplement includes a letter of welcome from former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, followed by 8 articles on topics related to distracted driving, including parental influence, social norms and passengers. The supplement is still available free-of-charge at www.jahonline.org.
We also provided resources to our stakeholders for their outreach on teen driver safety through our IKnowEverything program during May. We shared an infographic and “tweet sheet” with key statistics about teen driver safety, sample tweets, Facebook posts and Pinterest pins in order to target posts to parents and teens throughout the month and beyond. We were featured in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America’s (FCCLA) April/May issue of Teen Times, as well as in their weekly State Adviser Update. Our resources were also featured in the National Organizations for Youth Safety’s (NOYS) Notable NOYS Newsletter, and the Governor’s Highway Safety Association’s Directions in Highway Safety newsletter to members.
You can find IKnowEverything on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, and the program is often featured on the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility’s blog! This month we featured a blog from Anthony Wolf, PhD, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility National Advisory Board Member, best-selling author and clinical psychologist, who gave advice for parenting new teen drivers.
In partnership with the FCCLA, the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility has been traveling to schools across the country to collect data on teens’ knowledge of driver safety with the IKnowEverything Challenge. The results from each school comprise a national study that will help the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility bring awareness to the gaps in new teen drivers’ knowledge, and help teachers to better, more effectively educate their students on teen driver safety. Between January and May, we made it to 20 schools and reached 2,000 students!
We also participated in the NOYS GYTSM kick-off rally at the National Transportation Safety Board with youth, advocacy groups and government agencies. Also, we served as a walk ambassador for the 2nd annual Long Short Walk. Then, we presented to a meeting of NOYS member organizations on our name change and key program offerings and resources for teens, advocates and educators. On May 15 we participated in a NOYS twitter chat with over a dozen organizations to raise awareness for teen driver safety.
Finally, we engaged state and federal elected officials throughout the month and provided outreach resources for them to share with their constituents on teen driver safety. Our IKnowEverything materials were included in a press event with the Virginia State Police and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) for the kick-off of their Drive to Save Lives Campaign on May 20 and Montana Governor Steve Bullock (D) engaged us on social media during the month. On May 29, Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) made a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about teen driver safety. Congressmen Tim Bishop (D-NY), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), as well as Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), also engaged us on social media during the month. Attorneys General from across the country also spread the gospel of teen driver safety on social media, including Jack Conway (D-KY), Tim Fox (R-MT) and John Suthers (R-CO).
Though we double our efforts in May, teen driver safety is a priority for the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility year-round. We would also like to feature the work you’re doing about teen driver safety on our blog and to include your initiatives as a resource on our website! Please contact Jaime Alvis, Director of Government Relations & Traffic Safety, and let us know if you’re interested in being featured along with your colleagues.
