You are not invincible.

That’s the message Cassandra Reed was trying to get across to students at Vicksburg High School at their Safety Awareness Day Friday.

The event was hosted by VHS’s SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) chapter, which works to keep youth in the community safe by providing education about safe driving, domestic violence, bullying prevention and other common dangers for teenagers.

“I came to spread the awareness to the teens about being proactive and buckling their seatbelts and keeping them buckled at all times,” she said. “We’re asking them to sign a pledge and wear our bracelets that say, ‘Someone Loves You, Buckle Up.’ We’re just letting the students know we do love them, and their lives are important to us, so that when they get behind the wheel of a car they know that they need to be proactive by buckling up the seatbelt and driving defensively and safely.”

Reed knows the importance of safe driving — she lost her daughter Acasia Rochelle Lee in a traffic accident on Oct. 18, 2012.

Reed said her daughter was a 16-year-old junior at Warren Central at the time.

“That’s why I started this project in memory of her,” she said. “I’m determined to take back our teens by keeping them safe and encouraging them to wear their seatbelts.”

VHS’ Assistant Principal Tameka Henderson wrote the grant to fund the program. Funding was provided by The Allstate Foundation.

“We got $1,000,” she said. “That money goes toward educating our students about not driving while distracted and educating them on the dangers of bullying, and we also educate them on conflict resolution, peer mentoring and teen dating violence.”

Friday’s program raised awareness about a variety of dangers involving distracted driving, Henderson said.

“It gives our students an opportunity to gain more knowledge about various people in the community, and it also gives community members a chance to come to Vicksburg high school to share their knowledge from their previous experiences,” she said.

Jay Stirgus, a student at Vicksburg High School, put on a presentation to warn students of the dangers of driving under the influence.

“I was trying to influence them to do the right thing, and to just wait if they are going to drink,” he said. “I encouraged them not to drink, but if they are going to do it, please don’t drink and drive.”

Stirgus and another student gave an example of a worst-case scenario of what could result from drinking and driving.

“We basically said if you’re with your friend and you’re drinking, imagine your friend dying because of you,” he said. “We talked about the effects of the death on you and your family and you going to jail because you were driving.”

It really makes an impact, Stirgus said.

“Sometimes people don’t really see the big picture,” he said. “They think they’re just trying to have a good time, but sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way.”