Spotlight on National PTA’s Collaboration with Uber
October is National PTA’s Family and School Safety Month, so it is a fitting time to spotlight National PTA’s collaboration with Uber, a Proud National PTA Sponsor.
When it comes to promoting the well-being of teens, safety and agency are top priorities at National PTA. Uber shares these commitments. The company is supporting National PTA with a dual agenda of promoting teen transportation safety and creating opportunities for students to advocate on issues that matter to them.
“It’s essential that youth are given a seat at the table and the opportunity to talk about the issues impacting them,” says National PTA President Yvonne Johnson. “We’re pleased to team up with Uber in this effort.”
This year, Uber helped introduce a powerful youth voice component to some National PTA’s major events. During a two-part panel series titled “PTSA Youth Spotlight: Activating, Engaging and Empowering Youth to Drive Change,” teen PTSA members shared their views on PTA advocacy priorities, spoke about their own experience driving change in their school communities and offered insights to PTA leaders on effectively engaging and activating youth.
At the March Legislative Conference, Uber’s Caitlin Chicu co-presented the National PTA Youth Advocate of the Year Award to Maurits Acosta of Hialeah-Miami Lakes PTSA in Florida.
Acosta has led several impressive initiatives to cultivate student civic engagement and increase student representation in local government and PTA leadership. Acosta launched the Miami-Dade County Student Engagement Committee and advocates for the creation of similar committees across county councils and state PTAs. He successfully lobbied to add a student representative to the Town of Miami Lakes Education Advisory Board, where he now serves as the inaugural office holder. Acosta also founded a student-led nonprofit dedicated to promoting civic engagement and community involvement among youth in Miami-Dade County.
“Working hand in hand with National PTA, we are thrilled to help drive youth safety and advocacy in our communities,” says Chicu. “We look forward to continuing to build on these efforts with National PTA and centering the needs of students at the heart of our work.”
Focus on Teen Transportation Safety
National PTA is helping to inform families about Uber teen accounts, which allow teens to request rides and order food with parental supervision and built-in safety features. For families that choose to use ride share apps for their teens (ages 13-17), Uber teen accounts offer several key features:
- Ride transparency: Parents and teens can both track the ride from beginning to end.
- Vetted drivers: Teens are always paired with highly rated and experienced drivers who have undergone a thorough background check.
- Status updates: Parents receive real-time updates and ride completion notifications.
- Always-on safety features: Important safety features—like PIN verification and RideCheck—are automatically turned on and cannot be turned off. Teens can choose to audio-record their rides as well.
- Support for teens: Teens can report any issue directly through the app, may contact a live safety agent for any ongoing safety concern, and may call 911 through the app in the event of an emergency.
