Name: Dillon Minnix
From: Buchanan, Virginia
Votes: 0
Dillon
Minnix
Age
16, of Buchanan, Virginia
July
14, 2019
The
Power of Social Media and Teenage Drivers
As
teenagers, our entire world revolves around social media, and what
other teenagers are doing. Social media comprises the coolest trends
for that week or month. It does not matter if you are sitting on the
couch, laying in bed, or being the wheel. It has become the “norm”
to always be online, interacting with others. With that said, has
become normal for most people, especially teenagers, to be sending
Snapchats, or scrolling through Instagram. It has become such a
repetitive everyday thing, that most teens do not even think twice
about being on their phones, regardless if they are behind the wheel
of a several thousand pound vehicle, going seventy miles per hour. If
social media took a turn and promoted safe driving as a new “trend”
it would have a huge impact on the number of deaths as a result of
driving. Since a teenager’s entire world is on their phone, why not
promote distraction-free driving all over Instagram, Snapchat, and
Twitter? If distraction free driving was the “norm” there would
be lower crash rates on the roads.
When
I was younger, my dad would text all the time on his phone, when he
was driving. With that, he also would not wear his seatbelt. This is
because it was the norm when he was growing up, to not wear
seatbelts. But when my younger brother and I explained to him what we
were learning in school regarding distraction free driving, he
listened. We would catch him all the time texting, but with us
continuously reminding him, he won’t even look at his phone
anymore, and puts his seatbelt on before he starts his vehicle. My
dad now realizes the importance of a “distraction-free drive” as
he was not only putting his life at risk, but the people that were in
the vehicle with him, and the other drivers on the roadways. If we
all can take a charge to make this the normal thing to do, and make
it “weird” to not do, then we can set a new trend and change the
negative statistics for good!
Social
media has a heavy influence on our lives and has the power to make it
“cool” to not
text and drive, by starting a new trend to put your phone down
whenever you are driving. If social media could rely on people’s
conscience, and play the guilt card, they could highlight the major
consequences that could happen from sending one text, or liking a
picture. By sending that one snapchat, you could have missed the
elderly lady crossing the street and have to live with not only
ending her life, but ruining her families. If we all come together to
make putting your phone away the normal thing to do, people will
naturally want to fit in, and will not use their phones as it will be
abnormal.
