Local MADD volunteers Karen Anthony-Burns (left) and Darrens Deck (right) use VR goggles to simulate the experience of driving under the influence of cannabis (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Showing not telling

High-tech mobile classroom rolls into P.A.

Sep 24, 2019 | 12:14 PM

A virtual reality “classroom-on-wheels” is visiting Prince Albert schools this week.

Students from Grades 4 to 6 will board the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) SmartWheels bus and learn about the dangers of impaired driving through videos, short presentations and VR goggles.

MLA Joe Hargrave was on site for the Prince Albert premiere and had a chance to sit in on a class, including a VR simulation of driving intoxicated.

“I finished the experience, I did the whole hour session and you did feel when you got up that you were still staggering. It was that effective,” he told paNOW.

The $1 million bus is only the second of its kind in Canada. The other is in Ontario. SGI and SLGA contributed $500,000 and $200,000 respectively to the project, with the remaining $300,000 and operating costs covered by MADD.

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Darren Deck, Karen Anthony-Burns, Denise Mildner of MADD Canada and MLA Joe Hargrave stand in front of the SmartWheels bus at École Vickers. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

Studies show that kids start using alcohol and cannabis as early as Grade 7, which is why MADD has chosen to target them even younger.

“So they understand that they can make choices before they get to the place where they’re in high school,” MADD Canada’s Saskatchewan Manitoba Regional Manager, Denise Mildner, said. “Right now we can help form these opinions.”

By all accounts the bus, which was unveiled two weeks ago in Regina, is a big hit with kids, especially the VR experience.

“They came out of there feeling empowered that they were given the tools and the knowledge they needed to make this decision themselves. They weren’t just told, they weren’t just talked to, they were given this experience,” Mildner said.

SmartWheels is expected to visit around 9,000 students at 100 schools around the province during the school year.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom