Students are headed back to the classroom or campus. Some, like Geary, are already in the second week of classes. Others are moving into dorms or apartments, getting ready for the college fall term.
There is so much to do and get done and see. Friends to catch up with, new routines to learn, new classes to grab attention.
Meanwhile parents are readjusting their own routines from the laid back summer days to the hectic mornings of get them up, get them dressed, get them out the door and on the way. Then it is off to work or school themselves, remember to pack lunch, pick up a mask, check your own and the kid’s temperatures. It is all too easy to leave a few minutes late and try to make up the time driving.
The temptation is on all of us everyday to drive too fast or try and check just one text or email on the way. Get a jump start on the day.
Everyday when I arrive at the office, the inboxes are full of accident reports where the cause of the collision was inattentive driving. Someone looked away for just an instance one instant too long. The next instance someone is hurt, or dead, or dying. Air ambulances are landing and taking off, loaded with broken lives, and for what?
Parents, please, please, please talk to your students, no matter their age. Elementary students have cell phones now, and it is not uncommon to see them walking along, head down, reading instead of watching traffic. Teenagers who drive should be reminded that the phone can wait, even if it seems important at the time. College students, too, can bear reminding to put the phone down when walking near traffic or driving.
Cell phones aren’t the only distraction, though. Repeatedly there are accident reports of crashes where a vehicle full of four or more teenagers is going too fast, the driver looks away for a minute, and lives are altered forever. Again, one second they are laughing and raising sand and the next they are in shock, wondering what happened while the sirens blare in the distance.
Talk to the kids. Make them aware (again) that paying attention is life and death, literally. Make them wear a seatbelt and lead by example by buckling up yourself every time, every drive. Those few seconds count in ways we can’t measure.
Connie Burcham can be reached at Editor@WatongaRepublican.com