Pupils get a rude
interruption to their lesson

by Ruth Banks

Pupils across Kent are set to be distracted from their lessons
in the name of road safety.

Kent Highways Services has enlisted the help of an actor in
a body cast who will be bursting into classrooms across the
county speaking on a mobile phone.

Pupils at the New Line Learning
Academy in Maidstone have been the first to experience the
'Ditch the
Distraction' campaign which aims to encourage young people
to pay attention while crossing the road.

The 'disruption' is followed by a serious presentation about
road safety, advising children to stop using mobile phones and MP3
players while crossing the street.

Steve Horton from Kent Highways said 78 young people have been
killed on the county's roads over the last three years:

He said: "We feel by taking this chap around in his body cast
and bursting in on lessons around the county we can grab their
attention immediately."

Richard Jenkins, community director of New Line Learning Trust, said
the school was happy to back the campaign.

"The students are very adaptable; although they have had a
distraction, they are now back into their maths, so they have
handled it very well," he added.

"I think the message has gone home. The vast majority of our
students walk into school so it is relevant to them."

Philip Griffiths, 12, said the actor's arrival had
definitely had an impact.

He said: "It was weird, because you don't expect it when you're
trying to do a lesson."

The message is also being supported by a poster campaign and
website,
which features an interactive video game and competition.