Some members of our team have observed "near-miss" incidents along the periphery of the Intermediate School -- children darting out into oncoming traffic as they make their way home from school across East Washington or Philomethian. Our initial survey of businesses along East Washington and Philomethian corroborate the sense that some of our children have developed dangerous pedestrian habits.
The question is, how do we re-train that behavior? One idea we've considered would involve a group of high school student mentors. We would have such mentors come into Intermediate School classrooms to engage 4th through 6th graders in classroom activities/discussions designed to increase awareness. (Of course, we'd set this up as a program offering high school students Community Service hours.) Because high schoolers tend to rank higher on the "cool" scale than do moms and dads, such a program may prove effective.
We could enlist the help of a professional organization such as Earth Day Coalition to train our high school mentors. Because any activity which promotes walking is, by its very nature, "green," this is the type of assignment Earth Day Coalition would consider. (Their organization is also familiar with Safe Routes to School funding.)
What do you think? Would such re-training be enough?
Do we also need adult crossing guards?
Do we need to re-think where we've positioned our crosswalks? Many have suggested that we create a crosswalk immediately in front of the Intermediate School entrance on East Washington, since that's where kids are crossing anyway. What are your thoughts?
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My sixth-grade son was hit and injured (not gravely, fortunately) by a car on Bell Street a few weeks ago. His twin brother, who witnessed the accident, reported that he did not properly look both ways (he also suggested the driver was driving fast, but there is no way to verify that, and I suspect the injuries would have been more severe had that been the case).
ReplyDeleteTraining is certainly a good idea, but I also think crossing guards (particularly in the major intersections in the neighborhoods near the Intermediate school) is ABSOLUTELY necessary. A full streetlight should be considered for the Bell/Cleveland intersection, as well.
If we as parents are so concerned about our children walking and safe routes to school, why are we not takinng the time to walk with them or volunteer to be a cross guard. Have we forgotten so easily that we had several attempted abductions last year. In these tough times, it will only get worse! lwts focus on what needs done in the classroom and not whin about having our kids walk to and from school!!!
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