By Chris Leo Palermino

The impact of texting while driving can be far more influential than simply an update to a friend on your whereabouts.
AT&T’s “It Can Wait” presentation at Somerville High School on Feb. 6 hammered the point home that a harmless text can have potentially fatal consequences behind the wheel.

Organized by AT&T New England president Patricia Jacobs in conjunction with the Somerville Public Schools, the presentation emphasized the dangers of texting while driving. It featured remarks from U.S. Congressman Michael Capuano, Mayor Joseph Curtatone, State Representatives Timothy Toomey and Denise Provost, the Clerk of Courts for Middlesex County, Michael A. Sullivan, Somerville Deputy Chief Mike Cabral and Somerville Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi.

The presentation was anchored by the short film “The Last Text,” which told the stories of different high school and college students and their physical and mental struggles – and even death – resulting from texting-induced traffic accidents.
The “guys in the suits,” as Somerville High Headmaster Tony Ciccariello joked in reference to their legislative guests, geared their speeches about the dangers of distracted driving to the audience of Somerville High juniors and seniors.

“The government is a group of people who want you to have good lives. In order to have good lives, you need to have a life,” Provost said in reference to the ramifications of the Massachusetts law that bans texting and driving for all drivers.
Michael Sullivan, the Clerk of Courts and a Somerville High crowd favorite, focused the conversation in on a personal level. He told a story about the death of a girl resulting from her best friend texting and the resulting heart wrenching court process for the families of the two teenagers afterwards.

The presentation hit close to home for some students. Jennifer Morgan, a senior house representative at Somerville High, recounted an emotional story about a close family member who was the victim of a texting-related car accident.

Other students emphasized their understanding of the magnitude of the issue. “Being a junior operator, I think that all kids got the message. It really impacted future drivers,” senior house representative Johnson Thomas remarked.

U.S. Congressman Capuano underlined the severity of the issue with a personal example of his own. “As a congressman, I get calls from senators, even the president. [The calls] can wait a few moments,” he said.

The “It Can Wait” campaign has been shown to more than 20 middle and high schools and close to 9,000 students in Massachusetts over the past year. It has received the support of local and state legislatures, with a diverse assortment of speakers at the different presentations in the area including members from the Massachusetts State House and U.S. Congressman Edward Markey.
“That’s the beauty of it. People really want to come together and send this message to our kids,” Jacobs said.

The program, part of a larger national campaign, hopes that students take home this message and remember the grave impact a simple smiley or off-the-cuff text can have when behind the wheel.

Based upon the silence that emanated from the group of more than 500 high school students during the presentation, it is clear that “the guys in the suits” made their point.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an audience of high schoolers being so quiet in this auditorium before,” junior house representative Graziello Olivieira observed.