In our world today, it is almost impossible to thrive without being on the social radar. It’s almost as if we were shackled at the ankles and limited as to how far we can go before reaching our boundaries. For example, have you ever seen a large elephant tied with a simple rope or chain and thought, “that elephant could clearly break that and be free” ?
When baby elephants are being tamed and broken, they are tied with a rope by their hind legs. The baby elephants are then placed within sight of their mother. Since the mother elephant has been broken, she does not react in the same way that the young elephant does. The baby elephant will persistently wear itself out in an attempt to be free and reach its mother, until it eventually gives in to the boundaries of the rope.
Then, as an adult, it doesn’t realize the potential strength which it possesses because it has been forced to conform to the boundaries of the rope. While everyone else sees the elephant as this great and powerful being, the elephant still thinks otherwise. The elephant does not realize that time has passed and it is now much stronger than it used to be. In the elephant’s mind it has trained itself to believe that this is how life will be. It believes it has lost it’s freedom and is under the control of someone else. We are just like those baby elephants. The digital world is our rope. As time passes we seem to convince ourselves that we need to be heavily involved with digital media in order to survive…even when it puts our life at risk.
In recent years laws have been created to ban the use of digital objects while driving due to a numerous deaths caused by them. The most widely discussed is the use of texting while driving. Even with laws not being in effect, and PSAs being broadcasted, a significant number of people can be seen texting while they drive. This digital age has consumed us and made us believe that something as simple as a short text can’t possibly threaten our well being. The harsh reality is that within the past few years the number of car accidents and fatalities related to texting while driving have been multiplying tremendously. Nearly 500,000 young adults each year are injured due to various forms of distracted driving, including texting, mobile instant messaging, updating social media platforms, sending photos, etc. The problem is the fact that most people don’t really think there is a problem. In a survey done in 2011, 77% of young adult drivers claimed they are very/somewhat confident that they can safely text while driving. (Ad Council, 2011)
The Ad Council began working together with the office of the State Attorneys General and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to create a Texting and Driving Prevention campaign known as Stop the text. Stop the wrecks. The campaign is aimed at educating young adults about the dangers of distracted driving, though with today’s growing trends in social media is has began applying to more and more adults. From radio spots to television commercials, the campaign has taken off successfully and brought a new light to how deadly a simple text message can be. For more information, facts, and tips on how to avoid texting while driving, click on the link above or visit www.stoptextsstopwrecks.org
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