Westlake Raises Awareness About Dangers of Texting & Driving

By Kristal Dixon

The Fulton County School System partnered with a national wireless service provider to produce a public service announcement that warns teens against the dangers of texting while driving. 

AT&T teamed up with the district for the awareness campaign, was included a contest in which students from seven high schools would produce a short video that would serve as the district's PSA. 

Students were tasked with incorporating video and other tools into the message. First-place went to Westlake High School for its entry and Alpharetta High School garnered second place for its video. 

The entries could be no longer than three minutes, and were judged based on quality on the message, the ability to convey the "It Can Wait" theme and originality.
 

The winning schools will have a school-wide event in which students can drive car simulators to experience first-hand the dangers of texting while behind the wheel.

Both videos from Alpharetta and Westlake concentrated on showing the deadly effects of texting while driving and were all scripted, videotaped and edited by the students.

“Texting and driving can have devastating consequences that our young people don’t always realize until it’s too late," said Superintendent Robert Avossa. "One second can change a life forever. We value this partnership with AT&T’s ‘It Can Wait’ program and how we can reinforce this safety message with our student drivers.” 

The PSAs will be shared on Fulton County local cable channels, such as FCSTV (Comcast Cable Channel 24), and other social media outlets.