Great Hang Up: Anti-texting pledges earn free concert

8:57 AM, May 26, 2011   |    comments
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Riverview, Florida -- It's one thing to make a promise.  It's another to follow through on it.

For the past few weeks, students from across the Bay Area took part in a contest called Focus on the Road--sponsored by More Health, 93.3 FLZ radio and the Allstate Foundation.  The school with the highest percentage of students signing a pledge not to text and drive would get a great prize.

Spoto High School in Riverview won the contest.  Their prize: a concert from British hip hop artist Tinie Tempah.

Spoto's yearbook staff spearheaded the winning pledge effort.

"My yearbook seniors made all the posters and the commercial," said yearbook advisor Christina Wulff. "They did all the pledge work. And they worked really hard to make everybody aware that you've got to put the phone down when you're driving."

You don't have to look far at Spoto to find a student affected by texting and driving.

"I've been in the car with my cousin and she was texting while driving," said Spoto senior Davonna Stanbury. "And she ran into the back of somebody's car. She had to pay $600 just to fix the bumper. And I was like, 'Oh my God. I'll never be in the car with you again!'"

Tinie Tempah is a rising star in the hip hop world.  He won two Brit awards this year--the British version of the Grammys.  He's well aware of the problem of texting and driving.

"In England, it's actually illegal to text and drive or be on the phone at all," said Tempah. "You can get in a lot of trouble when you're doing it. And I think it makes a lot of sense. It saves lives and prevents a lot of carnage that could potentially happen on the road. So the minute I heard about the opportunity I thought it would be only right to put my face to it and represent."

Tempah's commitment to the caused impressed a lot of the students.

"It's nice to see an adult and someone that is famous supporting that kind of thing," said senior Emily Schapiro.  "There's been other celebrities that you see setting bad examples and it's nice to see a celebrity set a good example for us to follow."

Click on the video below to watch Tinie Tempah's hit song "Written on the Stars." 

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