CARTEENS Program Topics Include:

  • Excessive Speed
  • Driving under the influence
  • Seat belt safety use
  • Consequences of unsafe decisions
  • Understanding traffic laws
  • Recognizing and reacting to traffic signs and signals
  • Sharing the road with Slow Moving Vehicles

2024 CARTEENS Dates and Session Information

Registration Website: https://go.osu.edu/nwcarteens

Want more information on Carteens location, and common FAQs? Visit: https://defiance.osu.edu/program-areas/4-h-youth-development/carteens


What is CARTEENS?

4-H CARTEENS is a traffic safety program conducted by 4-H teen leaders and their program partners for juvenile traffice offenders. 4-H CARTEENS goals include: 

  • reducing the number of repeat juvenile offenders
  • decreasing the number of teen traffic offenders
  • increasing teen awareness of traffic/vehicular safety

What does CARTEENS stand for?

The "Car" in CARTEENS stands for "Caution And Responsibility," and "Teens" refers to the teenagers who help prepare and present the program. In CARTEENS programs, 4-H teen leaders teach traffic education safety programs to first-time teen offenders, while also building offenders' self-esteem and interpersonal skills. Teen traffic offenders attending this program have typically been cited for speeding, stop sign violations, reckless operation, and other similar moving violations.


Background

For more than a century, the Ohio State University Extension (OSU Extension) 4-H Youth Development Program has helped people help themselves through educational programs and activities in each of Ohio's 88 counties. OSU faculty and staff located in county Extension offices recruit and engage adult volunteers and teen leaders who provide leadership to educational programs for youth in local programs. Over the years, extensive county needs assessments conducted by Ohio State University Extension repeatedly identified teen vehicular safety as a priority need in Ohio's communities.

The 4-H CARTEENS vehicular safety initiative was developed in response to this need. The original CARTEENS Program began in Brown County, Ohio in 1987 with support from OSU Extension, volunteer teen leaders, the juvenile probate court, and the Ohio Highway Patrol. Since 1987, the 4-H CARTEENS program has expanded throughout Ohio and to several other states across the nation.