From the College Counsellor

Young drivers continue to be over-represented among road crash victims in Australia. More than one in five drivers killed in 2016 were aged 17-25, and one in four drivers seriously injured belonged to this age group, according to The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children Annual Statistical Report (2018-2019). 

The Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety Queensland reports that drivers are at their highest risk of being involved in a crash during their first year of driving unsupervised. A range of factors have been linked to the higher rate of injuries and deaths among young drivers, including driver inexperience, risky driving behaviours such as speeding and driving without a seatbelt, driving more frequently at high-risk times (e.g. at night), and driving smaller and/or older vehicles with fewer safety features.

Developmentally, teenagers are at the stage where they are testing boundaries and not actively thinking about the risks or their mortality. The areas of the brain concerned with impulse control, planning and decision making are still developing, which may contribute to their engagement in risky or impulsive behaviours. 

We are all aware of the risks when we drive and the responsibility of operating a vehicle. It is another dangerous trend that has me very worried, and it is happening irrespective of the threat of enormous fines and loss of licence – that is, people texting while driving. 

In the car with my young children a few weeks ago, I noticed a young girl on her Ps driving in the lane next to us. She had her phone in her hand and was texting. I was amazed but maybe not surprised. 

What bothered me the most about the young woman on her phone was that only a few months prior, I had been working in the Intensive Care Unit of a large hospital when a woman, only 20, was brought in after being involved in a major car accident. The young woman had responded to a text whilst driving. The injuries from the accident devastatingly left her a paraplegic. While she now undergoes intensive rehabilitation, she is forever left with the regret of her actions, and the life-altering physical damage that may have been avoided had she resisted the urge to use her phone. It is a very harsh lesson that no one should have to live with. 

As a parent, I constantly wonder how we get the message across? I know I am not alone in these thoughts. 

Positive role modelling is one of the most important things we can do for our children. As parents, we cannot be perfect all the time, but we need to show our children the behaviours we want to instil. I am aware as I drive that I am often thinking of the million and one things I need to do and how tempting it would be to complete tasks whilst waiting at a red light or in a traffic jam. Young people are brought up in a heavy technology environment, where messages and responses can be instant. Most young people experience FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and feel that if they don’t reply to a message instantly, it will greatly impact them.

One strategy to keep us away from our phones whilst driving is just to be mindful. When we are with friends or family in everyday life, let’s have more conversations without a phone in our face at the same time. The more we are mindful of the impact of technology on our interactions with others, the less tempting it is to always need our phones. Another way to stay in the moment when driving is by playing your favourite music or listening to audiobooks or podcasts. By distracting our urge to use a phone when driving, we are encouraged to enjoy some technology-free time and embrace something new and different. We need to normalise that we cannot and should not be accessible on our phone 100% of the time, and it is okay to not respond to our friends right away.

If you would like to discuss the above or have any concerns about your daughter, please feel free to contact the College Counsellors – Louise Scuderi via louise.scuderi@syd.catholic.edu.au or Monica Rogenmoser via monica.rogenmoser@syd.catholic.edu.au or phone (02) 9816 2041 / 0435 659 694