JESSAMINE COUNTY, Ky. — Ahead of National Seat Belt Day, East Jessamine Middle School students are taking what they have learned about traffic safety out of the classroom and sharing it with younger students.
A group of eighth graders visited Red Oak Elementary School to teach students about seat belts, booster seats and safe behavior inside a vehicle. The activities were developed through Students Against Destructive Decisions, or SADD, and give the middle school students an opportunity to serve as prevention leaders in their community.
“It’s a learning opportunity for them and also for us,” Christian O'Banian said.
Another student said hearing the message from other young people can make a difference. “It gives them more of a perspective from someone closer to their age on how important it is to stay safe in a car,” Anna Gray said.
East Jessamine Middle School teacher Samantha Jones leads the group of eighth graders taking on the role of educators.
The lessons include the importance of wearing a seat belt, avoiding distractions and knowing when a child is ready to move out of a booster seat.
Carol Lucio, Kentucky Students Against Destructive Decisions Coordinator, told students that height is an important factor in determining whether a seat belt fits properly. “If you’re 4-foot-9, you are tall enough to be out of a booster,” Lucio said. “If you’re not, you should be in a booster in the back seat always.”
The younger students also learned about their role as passengers. One Red Oak Elementary student summed up another key lesson simply: “Don’t distract the driver while they’re driving.”
For East Jessamine Middle School student Cole Wiley, the message about buckling up is straightforward. “If you don’t wear your seat belt, there’s a lot of things that can happen,” Wiley said.
He also acknowledged that some young people may worry about how wearing a seat belt looks to their peers, but said safety matters more.
“A lot of people think seat belts look lame, but I’d rather be lame than dead,” Wiley said.
The students’ outreach comes as Kentucky continues to face concerns over teen traffic deaths. Lucio said 14 people ages 16 and 17 died on Kentucky roadways in 2025 and 12 of them were not wearing seat belts. “Unfortunately, Kentucky is considered the worst state in the country for teen traffic fatalities,” Lucio said.
Lucio said peer-to-peer education is a critical part of SADD’s approach because students can sometimes deliver safety messages in ways that resonate differently than when they come from adults.
“We are Students Against Destructive Decisions. The important word in our name is students,” Lucio said. “We want the students to be able to do the outreach to their peers, but also to the younger students.”
For the East Jessamine students, that means turning classroom lessons into real-world conversations and encouraging the next generation to make safe decisions every time they get into a vehicle.
