A Teaching Moment

Yesterday in my classroom, a very good opportunity came up to teach my students about something beyond the regular curriculum.  Although a sad topic, most students were very involved in the discussion.  We got to talking about some of their classmates who had been called to heaven by the Lord.  Most of those who had already passed were involved in motor-vehicle collisions.  But two of our Dothan High students stood out in my mind as dying from something other than a car crash:  One was struck and killed by lightning, and the other was playing a stupid game of Russian Roulette.  A few of my students were not familiar with this deadly "game".  After explaining it to the class, most could not believe a person with any sense would play such a game.  So I questioned them about it.  I asked if any of them thought they might ever try it.  One student told me, "I know peer pressure can cause students to do some dumb things, but I don't think any pressure would cause me to do something that dumb".  100% of the class agreed that the game was too risky and that their lives were much more important to them, their friends, and their families to try something so stupid.  So then I asked how many of them text and drive at the same time.  Silence....

I was not judging my students, because Lord knows I have texted while driving before, too.  But when I think about it afterwards, I realize that it was just as dangerous to do that as it would be to play Russian Roulette.  But texting while driving is much worse because there are a lot of innocent people on the road that can be affected by it.  I will never forget when I lived in New Jersey and learned about a 17-year old that had been drinking and driving.  He veered just a little too far over the center line and hit an on-coming car head-on.  It killed three people in that car...his mom, dad, and little brother.  They just happened to be driving on that road at that very moment.  To this day, he continues to struggle with his bad decision that wiped-out his family.  We all do dumb things, but God gave us a brain and expects us to use it.  Please don't drive while intoxicated nor when intexticated.  I'm challenging you as well as myself to never, ever do that again.

Father, please forgive us for continuing to do certain things that we know we should never do.  Help us to place our bibles on top of our cell phones while we are driving.  In Jesus name, Amen.