The students at Juan Manuel Zafra School recognized a need for a serious road safety awareness raising campaign in their community and decided to create a short film to share among fellow students and also through social networks.
Tes Idées
After a discussion on topics like risky behavior, street safety and the use of bicycles in Barcelona, the students of Barcelona’s Juan Manuel Zafra School concluded that the number of traffic accidents in the city is worrying. They also concluded that the frequency of driving accidents, along with air and noise pollution, could be improved through the use of bicycles and public transport – but bringing about the necessary change in behavior would require a change in attitude. The students decided to launch a very creative awareness raising campaign.
Before beginning, they got informed and did a lot of brainstorming. They collected news reports about local traffic accidents to try and determine the causes behind them as well as the consequences that would have resulted. They also observed the high levels of noise pollution around their school which they were able to attribute, above all, to Barcelona’s intense traffic. They concluded that finding an effective solution to these problems would really improve the quality of life for everyone in the city.
Having identified the problems that most urgently needed to be addressed, the students got creative in thinking up solutions and messages. They reflected on the challenges of living in the modern world, like increased traffic, and also on the benefits, like new technologies for communication.
They decided to put these technologies to good use, with an awareness raising video to be distributed through the school website (www.jmzafra.com) and through social networks. They supported the video with other creative communicative actions. The main message they chose to focus on was that each and every citizen is responsible for road safety.
Tes initiatives
After their startling analysis of traffic accidents and noise pollution, the students decided that the fastest road to a solution was to raise awareness among students and other citizens. They began their work by painting murals in their classroom about risk and the best ways we can all avoid it.
They also worked together with their teachers in the classroom, incorporating issues like road safety and sustainability in the city into their everyday curriculum. Together as a class, they carried out an analysis of the current levels of transport sustainability by going for a group bicycle ride and testing whether or not the bike lanes really are safe and practical for promoting a healthy future for the city.
The focus and the highlight of the students’ actions was a video focused on the causes and consequences of traffic accidents. The video consisted of two parts: the first five minutes was a powerful work of fiction, entirely written and produced by the students. They also did most of the acting, with the help of a few family members to fill the necessary roles. The second half of the film provided viewers with surprising and useful facts and statistics about road safety in Europe.
