Texting While Driving
Sometimes There are No Do-Overs:
Today's Decisions Can Have Legal and Long-Term Consequences
This is a civil suit arising from a car crash that may have been caused by texting while driving. In a classroom, students play all the parts in this scripted simulation. In a courtroom, a real federal judge presides and attorneys coach the student lawyers at the counsel tables. Pre-assigned students play the parts of witnesses. All other students are jurors who deliberate in groups of 12. The trial simulation is followed by a conversation with probation officers about a series of situations — like texting while driving — that young people do not realize can have legal and long-term consequences.
In Advance of the Program
Preparatory Handouts for Teachers and the Teacher-Selected Students with Speaking Parts
Preparatory Handouts for the Host Judge
At the Courtroom Event
Handouts for All Participants