Teens in the Driver Seat

A peer-to-peer safe driving program for your school.

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Be a Seat Belt Hero Discussion Guide

Junior High School Activity
Use this discussion guide to facilitate a conversation about the importance of buckling up, every ride, every time. This activity is designed to engage your peers in an open dialogue about their attitudes and behaviors regarding seat belt use and talk about the importance of speaking up for your safety, as well as the safety of others.

 Items Needed
  • “Be A Seat Belt Hero” Discussion Board (provided in your resource kit or available for download as a worksheet).
  • Seat belt-focused tattoos/stickers or other giveaway items found in your resource kit to reward participants.
  • Optional – if your team completed Zero Hero Observations, have the results available to discuss

 Steps
  1. Plan the discussion for a club meeting or as a classroom discussion to be led by your TDS team.
  2. Review the Discussion Guide and use a reputable source to gather additional statistics related to seat belt use that you can share. Optional: Print a copy of the downloadable Discussion Guide for each participant to keep and take notes on.
  3. Sample discussion starters:
    1. In your opinion, why do people not wear a seat belt?
    2. Does your mom/dad/sibling/friend make it a habit of always wearing a seat belt?
    3. Have you ever been in a car where someone refused to buckle up? How did it make you feel? What would you tell them?
  4. Additional Talking Points:
    1. Share seat belt-related statistics and Zero Hero Observation results (if available).
    2. Share real stories
    3. Discuss ways that you can remind yourself/others to always buckle up.
    4. Talk about what you can do as passengers to ensure that everyone wears their seat belt.
    5. Challenge your peers to promise to buckle up every ride, every time.
  5. Take photos during the activity and share them, along with information on distracted driving, on your school’s social media channels and/or website.
  6. Complete an activity form to get All-Star credit.

Don’t Forget
The goal of this activity is to have an easy-to-manage but educational conversation to help you and your peers learn more about the importance of buckling up and to begin a dialogue on ways to speak up for your safety.

 Make it GREAT
  • Plan this activity while completing the All-Star Seat Belt Unit.
  • Take photos of students with their “seat belts” by your Real Heroes Wear Seat Belts bulletin board to post on your social media channels to further promote the message of safe driving and tag @teensdriverseat so we can see your great work, too.