February 2008 Calendar Resources

Friends for Life Campaign

Friends caring for friends is the focus of the Friends for Life campaign. At the center of the campaign is the SADD friendship bracelet. The following message can be attached to each bracelet or written on an accompanying card.

I’m giving this very special gift to you –
because you are my friend and I am yours.
Whenever you are tempted
to do something destructive,
look at this gift – and think of me.
You’ll know I care about you.
And you’ll know the right thing to do.
Wear this symbol of our friendship
and remember to make the right choice.
We are "Friends for Life."

SADD chapters can sell the bracelets to students as a fundraiser for teens to give to their friends or your chapter can provide them free. Start by publicizing the event in a way that gets the students interested and involved. You may want to run a weeklong campaign with posters, contests, announcements on the PA, and other events that stress the importance of making good decisions and how each decision you and your peers make affects each other.

At the culmination of the events, hold a "Friends Dance." The concept is to remind your friends and peers that they have the power to influence each other in a positive way.

The SADD "Friends for Life" bracelet is more than a symbol: it is a constant reminder of the bond friends share. Giving and wearing the friendship bracelet can help students focus on what is truly important in life: caring for each other. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every student in your school wore a friendship bracelet showing someone cares for them and wants them to be safe?

If you have created members in your club, you could make the bracelets yourself (macramé, knots, beads, etc.) otherwise SADD friendship bracelets are available from SADD Custom Products at 800-886-2972. The card is not included. Chapters must print their own.

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Safe and Sober Campaign

Call the Regional NHTSA office for program planners and information.

ATLANTA FEDERAL CENTER
61 FORSYTH STREET, SW
ATLANTA GA 30303
Phone (404) 562-3739
Fax (404) 562-3763
Email: region4@nhtsa.dot.gov
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov

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Aggressive Driving Awareness Month

Aggressive driving is defined as a progression of unlawful driving actions such as: exceeding the posted speed limit or driving too fast for conditions; failing to leave a safe distance between vehicles; failing to signal intent and failing to leave sufficient clearance between vehicles when changing lanes; or failing to signal intent, using an emergency lane to pass, or passing on the shoulder.

Automobile crashes are the number one killer of teens. Take some time this month for your SADD chapter to talk to your school about making good choices behind the wheel. Talk to local law enforcement and see if they would be willing to talk to your school about aggressive driving. Have a doctor/nurse from the trauma center or emergency room to come and speak on what they see after a traffic accident has occurred.

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Buckle Up Drive

Teens have the highest fatality rate in motor vehicle crashes than any other age group. There are many reasons; for instance, while teens are learning the new skills needed for driving, many frequently engage in high-risk behaviors, such as speeding and/or driving after using alcohol or drugs.

Studies also have shown that teens may be easily distracted while driving. One key reason for high traffic fatalities among this age group is that they have lower safety belt use rates than adults. Because teens have an increased exposure to potentially fatal traffic crashes, it is imperative that efforts to increase safety belt use among this age group be given the highest priority.

In addition, the youth population has increased by more than 12 percent since 1993, and is expected to increase by another seven percent by 2005. As this age group increases as a percentage of the population, the personal and societal costs associated with deaths and injuries from motor vehicle crashes also will rise.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 2001 Traffic Crash Facts report, 3,013 a total people died on our roads in 2000. Out of that, 604 of them were youths between the ages of 15-21; 101 of those youths were under the influence of alcohol. 44% of them were unbelted!

SADD chapters need to make their peers’ seat belt use a high priority. We need to do all we can to increase seat belt use by young people. The following is a list of activities that SADD chapters in other schools have conducted.

  • Start by being a role model. Always buckle up and make sure everyone you ride with or who rides with you buckles up.
  • Conduct seat belt checks. One day without warning hold a seat belt check at the entrances to your school. Stop all cars entering the school grounds to check for seat belt use. Give a candy bar to those who were wearing their seat belt and give a note to those who were not that says, "Please buckle up." Keep count of the number of people who wore their seat belts and the number who did not. Conduct seat belt checks again in the following months to see if more people are buckling up. Try a seat belt check when students are leaving school, too. Your goal is 100% participation! Look in our FL SADD campaign books online (http://www.floridasadd.org/springTime.htm) for handy forms that you can use for seat belt checks.
  • Put license plate numbers of all drivers who are buckled up coming into school in a hat for a drawing to win prizes such as a pizza party or ice cream sundae party.
  • In between seat belt checks put up posters, hand out literature, and read PSAs over the public address system to remind everyone to buckle up.
  • Challenge other high schools in your area to see who can reach 100% or the highest participation. Ask a local pizza or ice cream shop to provide an award to the SADD chapter whose school attains the highest percentage.
  • Erect a chart in the lobby of your school or out on the front lawn tracking the numbers as they increase. Design the chart in the shape of a seat belt. Indicate the number of seat belt users from the first seat belt check and continue to paint in the progress as you go.
  • Consider a "Living Seat Belt Around City Hall" to draw attention to the importance of wearing safety belts. On a designated day, have people join hands to encircle City Hall. In front of the building link the circle by "fastening" a large cardboard safety belt buckle. Be sure to invite elected officials and the media participate in this event.
  • Obtain permission from your administration to paint buckle up messages at the entrances and exits of your schools.
  • The Quick Click Buckle Challenge, which emphasizes the ease of putting on and taking off seat beats, is a fun way to get people to wear their seat belts. Winning teams can even compete with teams from other schools or challenge teachers to a "belt-off." Providing awards to the winners adds more fun to the competition.

For a more extensive list of seat belt activities, fax your request to the SADD National Office at 508-481-5759.

Middle School Buckle-Up Idea

Since your students do not drive, do the above exercises with the parents in the pick-up line. Give those wearing a seat belt a lifesaver with the message “Thanks for being a lifesaver.” For those not wearing a seat belt, give them a dum-dum with a message saying “Don’t be a dum-dum, buckle up!”

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Buckle Up America: Child Passenger Safety Week (February 13-19)

Website: www.seatcheck.org

Fewer than 10% of booster-seat-aged children—typically age 4 to 8—use the seats on a regular basis, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates. The Child Passenger Safety Week focuses on the need to restrain children in an appropriate safety seat until age 8. NHTSA provides child passenger safety partners with several materials that emphasize the importance of booster seats.

DaimlerChrysler Corp. and its partners—including NHTSA, the National Transportation Safety Board, Graco Children's Products Inc. and Lamaze International—launched 1-866-SEAT-CHECK, the first nationwide toll-free hotline dedicated solely to directing parents and caregivers to local car seat inspection resources. The partners also unveiled www.seatcheck.org, a web site that includes NHTSA's child safety seat inspector locator service and provides downloadable child passenger safety seat materials.

Visit the NHTSA web site for more information at http://www.buckleupamerica.org. Find out who is your local Child Passenger Safety expert and ask them for materials and support for your club activities.

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National Children of Alcoholics Week (February 10-16)

Website: www.nacoa.org

One in four children lives in a family environment where alcohol abuse or alcoholism negatively affects their world and their healthy development. Countless others are also hurt by parental drug abuse. There is growing evidence that living in such families during the crucial developmental years can create lifetime mental and physical health consequences, as well as confusion and fear in the present.

For more information on National Children of Alcoholics Week and to obtain a program kit and campaign publications, visit  http://ncadi.samhsa.gov and http://www.nacoa.org

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Sexual Responsibility Week (February 14-21)

Website: www.ashastd.org

Sexual Responsibility Week is a week designated to recognizing and educating students about sexuality and what it means to make sexually responsible choices.  Abstinence is the only 100% effective way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy. Activities during this week could be to host a workshop and have questions about relationships & sex answered by health care professionals from your local community or have a date rape seminar sponsored by a local date rape crisis center or local law enforcement. Your SADD chapter could host a health fair, make a STD information bulletin board or banner, or have “Parent for the Day” during the week;
students adopt an egg, bag of sugar, etc. and have to take care of it like it was their child for the day, showing them the responsibility of being a parent. http://www.ashastd.org

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National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 24 - March 1)

Website: www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

Eating disorders come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and genders! Please visit this very informative web site (http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=294) for dozens of ideas that you can do with your clubs to promote awareness and perhaps save lives.

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American Heart Month

Website: www.americanheart.org

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