Orcas high schoolers are asking their peers and community members to make a pledge: don’t text and drive.

“For parents and children: texting and driving kills,” said Roann Mietzner, who was part of a film that Point Blank students produced. It depicted a mock car wreck, and Mietzner acted as a distraught parent who lost her daughter in a fatal accident. “Texting is not worth it – it can wait.”

On April 6, members of the Point Blank Club, a chapter of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) showcased the film it made with the help of Orcas Towing, the Orcas Island Fire Department and Bennett Video Productions during a high school assembly. It depicted the death of an Orcas student and the arrest of a teen driver for texting behind the wheel.

Point Blank members highlighted some sobering statistics to the audience: 21 percent of fatal crashes for drivers ages 16-19 involve phone phone usage and that number is expected to climb four percent each year; texting causes drivers to black out for five seconds at a time; reaction time decreases 35 percent while texting and driving.

High schoolers took a survey on Monday and results indicated that many students “didn’t think texting and driving was dangerous” and they were unlikely to stop friends who texted while operating a car. The kids were set to take the survey again, after viewing the film, and Point Blank members were hopeful it changed a few minds.

“The point of the video was to show the impact of seeing one of your peers in a crash,” said sophomore Jules Mann.

After the presentation, teachers, community members, and students took a pledge to never text and drive. They stamped their thumbprint on a poster and took home rings, buttons, and fake tattoos that encouraged safe driving habits.

Point Blank members will travel to the Spring Youth Prevention Summit in Grand Mount, Wash. on May 19 to show the presentation to another 300 students. It will submit the video to the online “Act Out Loud” contest, where it will be competing against other prevention groups from around the country. The community is invited to cast their vote for the video at http://www.actoutloud.org. Voting will open on May 16 and continue until May 22. The winner will receive a monetary award. Email Point Blank advisor Julie Pinardi at pointblank@orcasonline.com for more information.