“First let me take a selfie.”  No– it should be “First let me cross the street before I dare try.”

This past year, the National Safety Council considered “texting-while-walking” one of the many easily avoidable causes of death.  It happens quite frequently.  

In a recent Star Tribune article entitled “A deadly year for distracted walkers in Minnesota,” it noted,”After falling to a six-year low of 17 in 2014, deaths are back in the 35-40 range of previous years, and safety experts are imploring drivers and pedestrians alike to put down their cellphones, headphones and tablets and start paying attention.”

Sadly, many pedestrians forget about safety; that’s why at least 24 percent of accidents on the street are because of distractions such as texting while walking.

Nyareak Reath, a sophomore at AVHS, says, “I think it happens a lot because we get bored just walking and people just pull their phones out of habit; sometimes people don’t think also.  I catch my friends and I doing it just going to class.”

People love multi-tasking; it’s something that comes natural.  However, according to Lisa Kons, of the Minnesota Safety Council, “You can’t multi-task. That is the biggest myth.”

Many of us get stuck onto our phones and rely on it for everything. Hopefully after considering the consequences maybe things will change.