Students at Wisconsin high schools will soon be seeing assemblies showing the dangers of texting and driving as part of a partnership between the Wisconsin State Patrol, AT&T and AAA.

A statement released Friday said Gov. Scott Walker is hoping to get the message across to students going back to school by calling September “Don’t Text & Drive: It Can Wait” Awareness Month, a reference to AT&T’s national “It Can Wait” campaign.

The statement continued with a plan to reach out to high school students about the campaign by running assemblies in high schools throughout the state.

The assemblies will mainly consist of a 12-minute documentary featuring texting and driving stories as well as a computer simulator to display how driving ability is impaired by various distractions, AT&T spokesperson Jessica Erickson said.

“The documentary shares real stories of lives that were either altered or ended because of texting and driving. It is a very powerful and telling video that hopefully will strike home with young people,” Erickson said.

AT&T is encouraging drivers to sign a pledge to never text and drive, which can be found at www.itcanwait.com. According to Erickson, AT&T has spent millions of dollars this year and described their efforts as an “ongoing commitment” that will be continued in coming years.

Erickson cited various numbers showing the necessity of such a campaign, including that while 97 percent of teenagers know texting and driving is dangerous, 75 percent say it is a common occurrence among their friends.

“The focus is on young people because we know teens are particularly at risk because they are inexperienced drivers and tend to be prolific texters,” Erickson said.

Many other events are sponsored by AT&T nationwide to promote their campaign, such as a Milwaukee Boys & Girls Club event last month with Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer LeRoy Butler. AT&T is also running advertisements to prevent texting and driving.

People who text while driving are 23 times more likely to get into an accident, according to Wisconsin State Patrol Major Sandra Huxtable.

Huxtable said the assemblies should be effective in curbing texting and driving among young adults, but added a variety of approaches are needed to fix the “multifaceted problem.” She added it is a driver’s responsibility to remain focused, but passengers must also remind the driver to do so.

“The number one killer for young adults happens to be traffic crashes. We are trying to turn that trend around and encourage them to be responsible drivers and responsible passengers,” Huxtable said.

Huxtable also addressed the law signed in 2010 under Gov. Jim Doyle which made texting and driving a cause for a traffic stop and citation with penalties of up to $400. She said there have been over 300 convictions since the law passed.

“The law is effective and making sure people are aware [of not texting and driving],” Huxtable said. “Anything we can do as a solution is effective.”