Teens 'Holla' About Smart Driving with Country Music Star Taylor Swift
New 'Holiday Holla' contest invites teens to 'carol-aoke' online and help save teen lives during the holidays
NORTHBROOK, Ill., Oct. 5 -- The winter holiday season is one of the happiest times of the year, but sadly, it's one of the deadliest times for teen drivers. This holiday season, teens from across the country literally will be "singing a different tune" in an unconventional approach to reducing the number of teen deaths caused by car crashes -- the No. 1 killer of teens.
Keep the Drive -- a teen-led smart driving movement funded by The Allstate Foundation -- invites teens to participate in "Holiday Holla," a contest that challenges teens to rewrite and perform traditional holiday carols with new, catchy lyrics about smart driving. Participants will raise awareness about teen deaths associated with car crashes in the first online "carol-aoke" contest of its kind. Teens also will have the opportunity to win $15,000 and meet and perform their song in front of platinum-selling country artist Taylor Swift. By rewriting songs such as "I Have a Little Dreidel" (possible new version: "I Have a Lovely Sable") or "Deck the Halls" (possible new version: "Deck the Streets"), teens will "holla" about driving smart this holiday season. (Go to http://www.holidayholla.com/ for sample videos.)
"This contest is a fun and creative way to make teens and their parents aware of how dangerous the holiday season is for teen drivers," said Swift, who will help select the final winners during an event at the Mall of America on Dec. 8, 2007. "Holiday Holla combines humor, music and witty-but-meaningful lyrics as a unique and effective way to encourage teens to step into the driver's seat and positively influence their peers."
Teen Activism: A Continuing Trend
The contest's innovative approach may be just what teens need to get their peers and classmates to "tune in" to smart driving. Car crashes cause far more teen deaths each year in the U.S. than drugs, violence or suicide. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, an average of 16 teens die each day in crashes-nearly 6,000 a year-and 300,000 teens are injured in crashes annually, with Thanksgiving to New Year's Day as one of the deadliest timeframes.
"This is a serious issue that affects all teens," said Jessica Mann, 17, a National Keep the Drive Crew member. "Keep the Drive has created a cool way to help teens like me become activists and do my part in reducing the number of preventable car crashes this holiday season. I'm hoping teens all over the country will enter and spread the word about smart driving and maybe win some great prizes."
Activism is a growing trend among teens. The Millennials or Generation Y is one of the most active generations when it comes to taking a stand on social issues, as indicated by the following:
-- More high school students volunteer today (more than 65 percent) than
ever before. According to a study by the Center for Information &
Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at the University of Maryland,
teens/college students are one-third more likely to volunteer compared
to older Americans.
-- Since 2005, more than 1,125 teens have signed up to be part of Keep
the Drive. As participants and activists, these teens have raised the
profile of the teen driving movement year-round, from learning about
the issue to creating school videos, serving as media spokespeople and
engaging in street protests.
-- According to a 2006 study by ThinkMTV, a new online activism
community, 61 percent of youth (ages 12 to 24) believe it's important
to be heard on issues that really matter and 82 percent are involved
in supporting these issues. Seventy-five percent say what drives them
is their desire to help others.
-- YouthNoise's study of students in sixth through twelfth grade shows
that 30 percent volunteer 80 or more hours per year, and 93 percent
plan to continue volunteering as adults.
"Holiday Holla" Contest Details
Beginning Oct. 1, 2007, teens can create their own carols-for-a-cause using smart driving lyrics and well-known holiday songs such as "Deck the Halls," "Oh Chanuka, Oh Chanuka," "Jingle Bells" and other classics listed on http://www.holidayholla.com/. Then teens can videotape themselves performing their songs, upload the videos to http://www.holidayholla.com/ and encourage their friends to vote for their favorites. Teens can enter as individuals or in teams of up to three teens.
Entries are accepted through Oct. 31, 2007. Online voting for the top videos will take place Nov. 2 through Nov. 25, 2007. Members from the five teams whose videos get the most votes will win an expenses-paid trip to the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., to participate in a finalist event on Dec. 8, 2007. At the event, the teen finalists will perform their songs onstage for a panel of teen judges, including Taylor Swift. The top winner/team will be recognized by Swift with $15,000; second place will win $3,000; and third place will win $1,500. Additionally, Swift will perform onstage after the winners are announced during the Mall of America's Holiday Music Festival at approximately 1 p.m. CST.
Information on the Teen Driving Issue
The Allstate Foundation conducted a national survey of teen driving attitudes and behaviors. In the survey, 47 percent of teens said their friends are a big influence on how they drive. Key findings included:
-- Fifty-six percent of teens make and answer phone calls while driving.
-- Thirteen percent write and/or read text messages while driving (with
12.5 million teen drivers in the U.S., that's 1.72 million teens
writing/reading text messages while driving).
-- Nearly one out of four self-identified aggressive teen drivers (26
percent) speed by more than 20 miles an hour above the legal limit.
-- More than 50 percent of teens believe that drinking and driving is the
leading cause of crashes. In reality, less than 25 percent of teen car
crashes are caused by drunk driving.
To learn more about the survey, and for state-by-state teen driving statistics, visit http://www.publicaster.com/info/allstate/teendriving/01/ for a press kit. For detailed rules on Holiday Holla, visit http://www.holidayholla.com/. Additional information on teen driving, including tips for parents on positively impacting their teen drivers, is available at http://www.protectteendrivers.com/.
About Keep the Drive
Keep the Drive is a national teen-led smart driving movement funded by The Allstate Foundation. It educates teens about the issue, impacts the way they think and act in the car and empowers them to become smart driving activists in their schools and communities. For more information, visit http://www.keepthedrive.com/.
About The Allstate Foundation
The Allstate Foundation is an independent, private, non-profit organization funded by subsidiaries of The Allstate Corporation. Since 1952, the Foundation has developed and funded programs in communities across the United States. Today, the Foundation focuses on three areas: safe and vital communities; tolerance, inclusion and diversity; and economic empowerment. Teen driving has been a priority for the Foundation since 2005.
NOTE TO EDITORS: If you're interested in any of the following interview opportunities and/or content, please contact Whitney Mares at wmares@webershandwick.com or 952.346.6508. -- Interview with Taylor Swift to discuss her role in the contest/event, the importance of the teen driving issue and how teens can get involved -- An advance interview with one or more of the Keep the Drive activists to discuss the issue, what they're doing in their communities as activists and their point of view regarding the Holiday Holla contest -- Opportunity to come to the event, interview the finalists and Swift and capture your own photos -- Pictures from the finalist event with Swift and teen performers -- The top five finalist videos and the winning video for your Web site -- Information on teen driving (statistics on teen car crashes, activism projects, etc.)