Expressions Pottery Studio will be holding their annual pottery sale on Dec. 6, 2009 from 1 to 4 PM. Local potters will present their works. Expressions studio is located at 9 School Street, East Granby, Connecticut.
Statistics show that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers. Parents and Teens: Behind the Wheel, examines where teen driving habits are formed and explores how parent behavior behind the wheel can influence the conduct of newly licensed teens.
“The early months of teen driving can be filled with tension and tears as parents and teens spend hours together on the road practicing their new roles,” said Creator and Co-producer Jennifer Boyd. “Suddenly the parent is the passenger, and the teen is in control behind the wheel. We have a very insightful scene where we used independently controlled cameras to show just how nerve racking the experience can be for families.”
The documentary follows five families over the course of six months, documenting the real-life issues they face during the first few months of driving and offers the opinions of industry experts on the reality of teenage brain development, and teens’ ability to anticipate events that might be hazardous on the road. Meet three mothers who lost teenagers to car crashes, and whose organization IMPACT, the Mourning Parents Act, seeks to educate not only parents and teens, but also the state legislature, about the number one cause of death for teenagers in America.
Parents and Teens: Behind the Wheel follows in the footsteps of the Emmy Award-winning, nationally recognized documentary Teens Behind the Wheel. For the initial Teens documentary, co-producer Jennifer Boyd placed palm-sized video cameras in newly licensed teens’ cars for six months. The cameras didn’t turn off when parents drove the vehicle. Some of this footage is used in the new documentary. From these brief glimpses into parental driving, experts were able to identify connections between driving styles. One expert was even able to accurately identify which parent belonged to which child, simply by looking at turning techniques and following patterns (distance between the driver and the car in front). This phenomenon raised some curious questions. Do teens brake harder if they’ve grown up with parents who brake hard? Do teens drive faster if their parents tend to push the speed limit?
Parents and Teens: Behind the Wheel is a useful tool in opening the dialogue between parents and teens, as well as a reminder that parental actions have a tremendous impact on those we love.
The families featured in the documentary are:
The Coleman Family
This family takes teen driving seriously. David Coleman, Jonah and Amanda’s dad, is an active member of a West Hartford organization called Community of Concern. Working through Community of Concern, David has pushed hard for stickers to be placed on cars driven by newly licensed drivers, alerting police that teen passengers should not be on board. Not only do the Coleman’s take graduated driving seriously, but 16-year-old Jonah will sign an agreement with his parents about his responsibilities as a driver and the consequences of breaking his side of the agreement.
The Moltz Family
Dillon Moltz is an accomplished 16-year-old race car driver, and his dad is his crew chief. Dillon has been racing cars for years without being a licensed on-the-road driver. David and Dillon have an unusual relationship; they spend large amounts of time together on the racing circuit. David taught Dillon to drive when he was nine, so unlike many kids, Dillon has had years and years of driving experience before getting his license. What advantage, if any, does Dillon have over most 16-year-olds?
The Esty Family
This family did everything right in terms of trying to keep their son Frasier safe on the road. They obeyed graduated driving restrictions, enrolled Frasier in drivers’ education, and gave him extensive experience behind the wheel. But Frasier still had a horrendous crash shortly after he got his license. He totaled his car on Interstate 95 during the middle of the day. What did the family learn from this experience and what does it tells us about the frightening hazards of teen driving?
The Brown Family
Adrienne Brown has two teenagers living at home. One is driving, and the other is about to get his learner’s permit. But unlike many parents, Adrienne made both of them wait until they were 18 to start driving. Adrienne felt they weren’t mature enough to handle the responsibility of driving, and withstood the pressure to put her kids behind the wheel at 16.
The Cusick Family
David Cusick has seen it all in terms of teen driving. For many years, he worked as a paramedic. He is now an emergency room nurse and sees daily what happens when teens get into trouble with cars. Although David is torn about his 16-year-old daughter Erin getting her license, Erin now has her learner’s permit. The stress over this conflict is affecting the whole family. David knows all too well what can happen and is doing everything he can to teach Erin to drive safely. Erin, like every 16-year-old, just wants her freedom.
Parents and Teens: Behind the Wheel is a CPTV production made possible by our Presenting Sponsor, Travelers, with additional support from The CarMax Foundation and The Law Firm Stratton Faxon. It is co-produced by Jennifer Boyd, Catherine Sager and Cathy Jacksman. Executive Producer is Jay Whitsett, Vice President & Station Manager, CPTV.
Both Teens: Behind the Wheel and Parents and Teens: Behind the Wheel will be distributed by American Public Television beginning in January of 2009. In the meantime, if you’d like to purchase a copy of the show, log onto CPTV.org.
On December 9, 2007 the New York Times did a story titled “Teenagers and Cars: A Deadly Mix” by Gerri Hirshey.
Here’s an excerpt:
I called a woman who has documented an intimate and harrowing view of boys and girls driving badly, Jennifer Boyd, a Hartford filmmaker. In May 2005, parents nationwide gasped at the terrifying cinéma vérité portrait of teenage drivers in her documentary “Teens Behind the Wheel,” on PBS. The film followed young drivers with two cameras mounted in the car, one trained on its occupants, the other out at the road ahead. Despite knowing they were being filmed, the teenagers sped, drove into poles, rolled through stop signs and tore around corners.
Ms. Boyd found herself with an unexpected dilemma. “Eight out of the 10 kids we followed crashed,” she said. “I watched footage week after week, convinced this one boy was going to kill himself or someone else. Much of the time he had two or three passengers. I struggled for a week and said to myself, ‘There’s something more important here.’ ”
She literally stepped into the picture; on camera, Ms. Boyd shows the boy his footage. His mother is clearly distressed; his father seems unconcerned, offering a “boys will be boys” sort of dismissal. Parental attitudes so intrigued Ms. Boyd that she is now filming a sequel that adults may find even harder to watch. “New studies are finding that kids are driving like their parents,” she said. “We’re looking into just how influential that is.” She is working with families and researchers at the University of Massachusetts, and the resulting documentary will be broadcast in May on Connecticut Public Television.
For the complete story, here’s the link…
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/09RTEEN.html?pagewanted=2