Car crashes remain the leading cause of death for young people in America and most are the result of reckless or distracted driving, not drugs or alcohol. At Amherst Steele High School, students in the Medical Health Technology (MHT) program are working to change that.
Over the past four years, MHT students have led a powerful social media campaign using a Positive Community Norming (PCN) approach to promote safer driving habits among their peers. This year, they’ve entered the Impact Teen Drivers “Create Real Impact” contest with their campaign, “Stay in the Game,” which uses a sports-themed, peer-to-peer message to connect safe driving behaviors with good sportsmanship.
Throughout the school year, students have created engaging content and hosted activities to encourage a culture of safe driving. As the year wraps up, they are launching a new social media series, “Stay in the Game: Comets vs. Distractors,” along with a “Be Seen” pedestrian safety campaign kicking off in late April.
The contest will evaluate campaigns based on creativity, messaging, and community impact, with winners announced in May. We extend our appreciation to our community partners, especially SRO Lamb of the Amherst Police Department, for their support. Together, we can promote safer choices and help protect this generation of drivers and those to come.
Catch the series and all of their campaign posts—more than 570 in total—on X (@kimhaney13), Facebook (Marion L. Steele Medical Health Technology), or Instagram (@steelemedtech). The more we interact with these posts the better as it helps get this important message out to our community and beyond.