Like any other young person, my niece–who just turned 21 years old–thinks she's invincible… and I understand her. I mean, it's not like I think I'm going to die every day, but I'm definitely much more aware of my own mortality now than I ever was at her age. And yet, we didn't have cell phones back then (or at least, I didn't) and texting was a thing of the future.
Any time I'm with my niece while she's driving, I have to beg her not to text and her response always is that she can do it because it only takes a second. My response to that, of course, is that yes, it does only takes a second to die or kill someone while texting.
Read more in ¿Qué más?: Trying to convince your teen to put down their cell? This should help! (VIDEO)
After hearing about the 18-year-old who just got convicted of homicide for killing someone while texting, I might just forward the story to my niece or post it on her Facebook timeline in the hopes that she might wake up and realize how dangerous texting and driving really is.
Aaron Deveau, who was found guilty on charges of vehicular homicide as a result of texting and driving, will serve one year in prison. Back in February of 2011, Deveau's car crossed the center line on a street in Massachussetts and hit the car Donald Bowley was driving fatally injuring him and seriously injuring the car's passanger. On Wednesday, the day he was found guilty, Deveau told the court that he had made a mistake and he wished he could take it back.
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But that's the thing, he can't. And that's exactly what I wished my niece understood, that in a split second, many lives can be changed forever. With the release of a survey by the CDC which found that about 58 percent of high school seniors admitted they had texted or emailed while driving during the previous month, it seems more imperative than ever that we make them understand the consequences of their actions.
How do you make your teen children understand the dangers behind texting and driving? Share with us in the comments section.
Image via viviandnguyen/flickr
