1. Car Crashes - Car crashes are the leading cause of injury among teens! (Go)
2. Bicycles and Motorcycles - Always wear your helmet! (Go)
3. Diving - Check for depth and go in feet first! (Go)
4. Team sports - Wear protective gear! (Go)
5. Violence - Don't get involved in gangs or violence! (Go)
6. Conflict resolution - Stop and think about the situation! (Go)

Since car crashes are the most common, let's start with them. How are you going to keep yourself and others safe on the road? How many of you wear a safety belt every time you're in a car? One of the most important choices you can make is to wear a safety belt and make everyone in your car wear one too. Your safety belt is going to keep you behind the wheel, so you have a better chance of keeping control of the car, or securely in the passenger seat. Air bags save a lot of lives, but you have to stay 10-12 inches behind the airbag so it won't hurt or kill you. The air bag and the safety belt are designed to work together to reduce injuries.

• No Airbag, no belt:
  Without an air bag or safety belt, the person has no protection and is thrown into the steering column, windshield, or even out of the car, causing serious injury or death. If you think an air bag would hurt, how do you think it would feel to have the metal steering column go into your chest?

• Airbag, no belt:
  When the person doesn't buckle up and there's an air bag, the person is thrown closer than that 10-12 inch distance and the air bag explodes at speeds of up to 200 mph, causing severe injuries or death. You have to have the safety belt on to keep you back from that impact.

• Airbag and belt:
  With the safety belt on, the person is held back and the air bag protects him. This person will have the least amount of injury, or maybe no injury at all. Don't be afraid of the air bag: it inflates and deflates in less than a second, so with the safety belt, it will keep you from going into the steering column or through the windshield. What if you are in the back seat? Do you think you will be thrown any less of a distance than if you are in the front? No. So you need to be buckled no matter where you are in the car.

• Remember:
  Beyond protecting yourself and your passengers with safety belts, look at it this way: crashes aren't accidents!

Motorcycles, motocross and all terrain vehicles don't have airbags, seatbelts, and that protective frame a car offers you - so there's basically nothing between you and the pavement if you crash on a motorcycle. If you do choose to ride a motorcycle, we hope you also choose to wear a helmet and protective clothing, like leather, so if you hit that asphalt, you've got something between your head, your skin, and that pavement. Unfortunately, we don't see many good outcomes with these crashes - you may notice there's a chalk mark around this person: he didn't make it. You have the speed of the bike, how far you're thrown, and how far you have to come down to land: the impact is usually too much to survive. Bicycles are like motorcycles in a sense; there's nothing between you and the pavement. Again helmets are about 85% effective in reducing brain injuries due to bike crashes, so if you have not started wearing a helmet yet, find one you like and get in the habit of using it.

• Never swim alone. Always swim with a buddy.
• Try to swim in supervised areas only.
• Know your swimming limits and stay within them.
• Know how to prevent, recognize, and respond to emergencies.
• Never drink alcohol and swim.
• Obey "NO DIVING" signs, which always indicate the area is unsafe for head first entries. A general rule is to enter the water feet first rather than head first if you don't know the depth. The water should be 8 feet deep or deeper.
• Watch out for the "dangerous too's"-- too tired, too cold, too far from safety, too much sun, too much strenuous activity.
• Stay out of the water when overheated.
• Use common sense about swimming after eating. In general, you do not have to wait an hour after eating before you can swim. However, if you have eaten a large meal, it is best to digest before swimming.
• Know local weather conditions and prepare for electrical storms. It is best to get out of the water when you hear thunder. Don't wait for lightning to strike.

If you are involved in Team Sports such as football, hockey, just make sure you are using the right equipment and the right technique. Make sure you condition well; remember your muscles protect other parts of your body. Try not to use unnecessary force. Keep in mind, a helmet's going to protect your head, but it's not going to do anything for your spinal cord

Violence is another unnecessary cause of injury and death. This is not the way you want to be noticed or remembered; there are so many other great things to be filling your life with. We all need to make an effort to be thoughtful and forgiving of others and solve problems in non-violent ways. Don't get involved in gangs or handguns.

So much violence could be prevented if we only stop and think about how to better handle problems. How could we be smarter and come off better at resolving problems? It's easy to act tough; it takes a lot more to be cool. Stop and think about the situation. Weigh out your choices and consequences. Focus on the problem, don't make it personal, and then, use some strategies.

What are some of those strategies?

• Avoidance: avoid the situation or remove yourself from a situation until you or the other person have regained control and calmed down.
• Diffusion: one example of diffusion is humor; use humor to laugh at or lighten the situation. Another type of diffusion is to agree with the person. If they say something rude or ridiculous, agree and walk away, diffusing the situation.
• Confrontation: talk with them about it. Pick the right time to speak to the person and tell them in a controlled voice that what they said or did hurt, angered, or offended you and ask them for an explanation.
• Negotiation: Talk about it; compromise. Tell them you are sorry that they are upset and agree to talk about it later alone or with others involved. Agree that there was a misunderstanding. Apologize when appropriate and accept their apology if given