Program Description
Click it Crew travels to local high schools to present seat belt safety education to pre-teens and teens, reinforcing the importance of buckling up before you drive or ride in the car. Utilizing resource information from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Click it Crew uses video, visual effects, crash sounds and real life scenarios to create a first hand experience of what it is like to be in a crash. Click it Crew facilitators lead discussions about how it feels to lose someone in a crash, as well as how teen drivers are the most at risk for injury or death due to not wearing a seat belt. Video testimonials are also shown from local families of teens injured or killed in crashes where seat belts were not worn. This moving and real life presentation gives teens a sobering look at what can be prevented by just the “click” of a seat belt. To date, the Click it Crew has served over 7,321 teens in the St. Louis area in over 16 school and community sites. In the future, the coalition expects to target 20-25 school and community sites per year.
Special Initiatives
In the spring of 2007, the “Crew” commissioned “Buckle Up,” a rap song by a local, up and coming artist which is played at the end of each presentation. In August 2007, Click it Crew completed a 3-D video presentation with a film company out of New York City, to give teen participants a closer look into the issue of seat belt safety. The film was shot with the assistance and talents of local actors as well as the emergency room doctors, nurses, and trauma team staff of St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The new 3-D video was launched at McCluer North High School on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 in a special presentation for students, staff and other community leaders. Guest artist, Murphy Lee of the St. Lunatics, performed live for the event.
Listen or view the words to "Saving Lives One Click at a Time, Buckle Up."
Click it Crew Challenge
In 2009, the Click it Crew Challenge was piloted in three high schools to assist student leaders who wanted to implement seat belt safety activities and messages in their schools. This initiative helped to increase seat belt safety awareness of students and staff by 15%. Challenge school participants were able to showcase their project ideas through poster campaigns, school-wide announcements, video PSA's and music. Each school continues to move forward in the fight to save the lives of teens, "one click at a time."
Congratulations go to the Normandy High School crew for winning the first Click it Crew Challenge initiative. Crew members did surprise seat belt checks in their school parking lot, posted seat belt safety signs around the school, broadcast safety messages to staff and students each day, and created a video/rap that they featured on YouTube.
Other 2009 Challenge schools were McCluer North and Beaumont High School. Both schools did an outstanding job encouraging students to buckle up. These schools continue to spread the message of seat belt safety and serve as ambassadors for their peers.
Program Background
According to NHTSA, teen drivers are the most at risk for injury or death in a vehicle crash largely due to inexperience and over confidence while driving. Over two-thirds of these teens are killed in crashes because they were not wearing seat belts. NHTSA also warns that other teen passengers in the car can cause distractions and peer pressure to not wear seat belts, which can lead to fatal crashes.
In 2004, St. Louis Children’s Hospital formed a partnership with Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. St. Louis Alumni Chapter to address the issue of teen fatalities from car crashes in the St. Louis Metropolitan area in which seat belts were not worn. According to national statistics, African American and Hispanic teen drivers and passengers have lower seat belt usage ratings and higher fatality rates in traffic crashes than non-minorities. This initiative by St. Louis Children's Hospital and our community partners is unique in that no other seat belt safety program in the region is addressing specific ethnic safety issues.
More Information
Click here for Facts That Can Save Your Life, Tips for Staying Safe Behind the Wheel, and Resources for Parents and Educators.
For more information about how to get the “Crew” to be a part of your school, please contact the Program Supervisor at 314.286.0969.