Yeah - I made a quick 1 sheeter - with a "What... you want me to rear face my baby to 2? Why?" sheet... (yeah I know... longer then 2 would be ideal... but BELIEVE me... I would be jumping for JOY if I could get some of these families to rear face their baby past 1 at all!)
I do seat checks once a week at a local center for low income families. Usually my rear facing talk is just sort of ignored. They still ask me to forward face. This time, I simply handed them the sheet - it had very simple info on it - not too many details - with some information about what a crash does to a child forward facing - and the photos of Joel (since his grandfather granted permission above... I noted it on the sheet that the photos were allowed for educational purposes).
Anyhow - a TON of these moms I spoke with - many are recovering addicts, some are homeless (they go in shelter vans), some are just not educated - they all took a sheet, read it and said "gosh - I just didn't know this".
I know the scare tactic isn't a good one always. Sometimes it makes people block things out even more... but this time, i think with the photos and the fact that he did survive and we have those "after" shots, it got to them. of course - most of their kids are under 1... so hopefully if they keep coming to the center, and keep seeing me there, they will keep their babies past 1... but it's the first time i felt like I got through some of them!
Anyhow - Joel's story is definitely making an impact on the group of women I work with... and I'll use ANYTHING that can get these women to keep their kids safe.