Tuesday’s Glee follows up on the explosive episode when Quinn (Dianna Agron) crashes because she was distracted by texting while driving. Texting and driving is a BIG problem, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports that in 2009 more than 5,400 people died in crashes that were reported to involve a distracted driver and about 448,000 were injured. Which is probably why more than 30 states have distracted driving laws and just year, April was declared National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
The CDC cites texting as the worst driving distraction because it involves three deadly components:
*Visual–taking your eyes off the road;
* Manual–taking your hands off the wheel; and
* Cognitive–taking your mind off what you are doing.
Experts from Safely, the digital parenting division of Location Labs, say the average teen sends 1,500 texts a month, which can include while they’re driving. They advise using Tuesday’s Glee episode as an opportunity to watch the show with your teen and pause to talk about how they feel about things happening throughout the episode. If kids are reluctant to share, they suggest asking if they’ve seen friends deal with these issues. Teens may be more willing to talk about a “friend’s” experience than their own. They also suggest setting a good example; according to Safely, almost half of parents text while driving. If you’re guilty of this, they say, you may want to consider a family pledge to stop texting while driving.
Will you watch the episode with your kids? I’m planning to. Would love to hear how it goes for you.