February 25, 2020
Jackson, MS—The Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol are kicking off their third joint prom season safety initiative, “PROM-Please Return on Monday”.
Key messages of the campaign urge prom-bound students to return home “in the same condition you left” and to “make good choices” such as buckling up, no texting and driving and no drinking and driving.
“The Mississippi Highway Patrol partnership with the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services is designed to educate our young people on the importance of making good conscientious decisions during prom season,” said Colonel Chris Gillard, Director of the Mississippi Highway Patrol. “MHP and MDRS will be conducting an all-out statewide educational blitz encouraging students on the importance of making good choices this prom season. We want every student to return home safely-in the same condition they left.”
“Our partnership with MHP through this campaign really highlights the full-circle of consequences teens face when they make choices to text and drive, to drink and drive, and to not buckle up,” said Chris Howard, Executive Director for the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services. “MHP Troopers are the ones who have to knock on doors and deliver the grim news that a loved one may never be coming home again and we are the ones who are often called in the
aftermath when an individual is left with a disability. It’s a sobering statistic, but an important one to note, that automobile accidents are a leading cause of traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries in Mississippi.”
State troopers and representatives from MDRS will be bringing special events to students around the state during prom season, primarily March and April. These events reached over 10,000 Mississippi students last year and include testimonials by individuals whose lives have been permanently altered following accidents involving drinking and driving, texting and driving and/or not buckling up. Additionally, posters featuring the artwork of cartoonist and well-known Mississippian Marshall Ramsey are being placed in schools around the state.
Teens celebrating prom can tweet photos to @MSDeptofRehab and/or @MSHwyPatrol with the hashtags #SafeProm #PleaseReturnOnMonday and #PROM2k20.
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Jan Schaefer, MDRS
Director of Communications
Captain Johnny Poulos, MHP
Director of Public Affairs
This message brought to you in partnership by the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Mississippi Highway Patrol.