Getting Started

Teen Driving SOS is a program designed to give parents and students the information they need to save lives. Parents have to focus on behaving in the same way they want their teens to emulate. Parents also have to provide adequate driving opportunities to their kids before they get their final license and hit the road by themselves.

You will never have more leverage over the conduct of your son or daughter than the moment you hand them a set of car keys. Before that happens a parent has a perfect opportunity to set down rules and consequences on driving privileges, use of alcohol or other drugs, seatbelt usage, dating and curfews. And, you can agree in advance on what happens when there is ticket, an at-fault accident, a broken curfew, or an alcohol or drug incident.

Program Introduction

There are a couple of ways that you can get this information in front of parents. We think it is critical for the parents of 9th and 10th graders.

I. The Easy Way: Letter with Materials Enclosed

If you cannot organize a program at your school with speakers as described below, you can still get the information in front of parents. If your school will print the labels then several concerned parents can sign the letter (Post Program Letter to Parents) and send it to these parents, with copies of the Parenting Tips, the Insurance/Legal Tips and the Driving Contracts. In this case, instead of being a follow-up letter to parents after a presentation, you are simply sending them the materials with the cover letter. Not as effective as having them hear a presentation, but it is certainly a start!

If you have more time, and money and volunteers.....

II. Presentation with Speakers: Then Materials Sent in Follow-up Letter

If you have the support of your school, time to organize and willing volunteers, a program with speakers presenting these topics is excellent. You can click on the Program DVD button to see how our first run of the program turned out. And, you can click on the Program Presentation Slides to see and download the slides that we used in our program. Obviously, you should tailor those to your state’s laws and statistics and to your school’s policies. Finally, you can click on the Information & Materials button to get everything you need on publicity to handouts with parenting tips and insurance/legal tips.

What we’re talking about is a one hour and 15 minute program for 9th and 10th grade students and their parents. The student program is done for just the students. The parent program is done just for parents (i.e. no kids allowed).

We have found that the program works best in the following format:

Timeline for Parent Program

7:00: 5 Minutes: Introductions and Initial Points: Moderator

7:15: 15 Minutes: Safety Statistics: Police Officer of State Trooper

7:30: 15 Minutes: Insurance and Liability Issues: Attorney

7:40: 10 Minutes: School Substance Abuse Policies and Disciplinary Procedures

7:50: 10 Minutes: Senior Students: What Your Kids Can Expect in the Years Ahead

8:00: 15 Minutes: Respected Parents of Seniors (not necessarily of those participating in program)

8:15: 15-20 Minutes: Question and Answer Period

8:30: Meeting Ends

Summary of Program

In essence, the policeman provides teen fatality statistics that demonstrate that something must be done. The attorney tells you how much can expect to pay for a vehicle with insurance, gives tips on reducing that cost and getting better insurance, and how parents and teens can be liable for accidents and parties. The school representative then explains what the substance abuse policy is for your particular school so that the parents and the teens know what the discipline for violation will be. The students explain to these younger students and their parents (in separate programs) what they can expect, the temptations, the risks, how they have had to suffer through their own consequences, and significantly how those consequences affected their future behavior. The parents then explain how they have applied consequences and handled issues like alcohol, drugs, curfews and dating. Then the program is opened up for questions.