Student road-safety activists have enlisted celebrity help, writes Louise Holden.
Last year's winning Young Social Innovators project was "Dead is easy - belt up and be safe", by students at John the Baptist Community School, in Hospital, Co Limerick. They were concerned about the number of injuries and deaths on local roads. As a problem that affected young people, they decided it demanded a response from young people, too.
"The students in my class said that they genuinely feared for their own lives if Ireland's road-safety record didn't improve," says Deirdre Brennan, a teacher at the school. "They researched the facts about road deaths and realised that the change would have to come from themselves."
Since then the project has gone national. The school used its €2,500 prize money to take the campaign to the next level. It enlisted the support of Bono, President Mary McAleese, Paddy Casey and a host of sports stars to spread the word. It held a national prayer service for road-crash victims. The impact in the school was stark.
"There are 675 students in the school," says Brennan. "As they filed into the hall for the prayer service, 287 were handed yellow cards. After the service, those with yellow cards were asked to line the walls. They represented the number of people killed on the roads between January and November last year. There is no doubt but the students in our school are starting the get the message."
According to Brennan, the YSI group works tirelessly on the project. It communicates daily with other students about road safety. It has held an awareness week, invited celebrity guest speakers, carried out seat-belt surveys, observed students on school buses, engaged local and national media and measured the campaign's effectiveness to improve its strategy.
In the community, the group is working with primary pupils, posting road signs and sending memos to parents. The group has a website, www.drivefastdiefast.ie, and a Bebo site, where students from all over the country can participate.
The group is running a national poster competition, and it has had such a good response that it has extended the deadline, to Friday, February 8th.
"The students are so passionate about their mission to make this work," says Brennan. "They want to communicate their message to as many people as possible. Every one of the 28 students involved this year has his or her own task, and they're all working flat out. Last year's students are still involved, too. The impact on our school has been immense. These are real social entrepreneurs."
Are you interested in social-affairs journalism? Transition Times invites young social-affairs reporters to write about the YSI Speak Out forums. What did you see there? Did a
particular issue stand out for you? E-mail your reports to lholden@irish-times.ie and we'll publish our favourites in March. The forums (9.30am-1pm) are at Ardilaun Hotel, Galway (Feb 7),
Regency Airport Hotel, Dublin (Feb 19), Clarion Hotel, Sligo (Feb 21),
Woodlands Hotel, Waterford (Feb 26), Fairways Hotel, Dundalk (Feb 28),
City Hall, Cork (Mar 4) and Red Cow Moran Hotel, Dublin (Mar 6). See www.young socialinnovators.ie
