(ORLANDO, FL) The 150 students from the Nap Ford Community School received a visit from Tobias Harris of the Orlando Magic, the spokesman for the Designated Texter movement in Central Florida. The event was designed to raise awareness of the dangers of texting and driving and is part of an ongoing partnership between Tobias Harris and the Central Florida Expressway Authority to educate the community on distracted driving issues.
Designated Texter is a solution-focused public service campaign that asks drivers to hand their phone to a passenger or to designate a texter. In conjunction with this month’s National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the students at Nap Ford have joined the DT movement, pledging to serve as the DT for their parents while in the car.
The fifth grade students were split into small groups, with each group writing and recording an original Designated Texter PSA. The winning PSAs can be viewed at WhosYourDT.com. The Designated Texter movement can be followed on Twitter by using the hashtag #WhosYourDT.
Distracted Driving Statistics
- Reading or sending a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for 4.5 seconds, enough time to drive a football field blindfolded at 55 mph.
- A texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-texting driver.
- Each day, an average of more than nine people are killed and more than 1,060 are injured in crashes caused by distracted driving, according to the CDC.
About Tobias Harris:
Tobias Harris is a forward for the Orlando Magic and respected community champion. He won the Magic’s Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons, due in part to his work with the Designated Texter program. In April 2015, Harris was named one of five finalists for the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award as selected by the Professional Basketball Writers Association, which honors outstanding service and dedication to a community. He also received the March 2015 NBA Cares Community Assist Award in recognition of his charitable contributions and efforts to motivate youth in schools throughout the Orlando community.
Harris works with youth in sporting activities, basketball camps/clinics, health, nutrition and safety programs that encourage academics and self-esteem. He has established mentoring programs at Nap Ford Community School and Howard Middle School in Orlando, and spends about an hour or more speaking with the children at least once a month.
About Nap Ford Community School
Nap Ford Community School is a health and wellness K-5 charter school in Orlando’s Parramore neighborhood. Through a comprehensive Health and Wellness curricula, Nap Ford students develop a foundation of social, physical, academic and financial health and wellness through stimulating instruction and activities that promote health literacy.