Safety on the way to school
Being a role model is not enough
Going alone to school without parents. Which child doesn’t dream of being big and independent? Children learn almost everything from their parents, but also from other adults. Consequently, they of course also learn dealing with traffic and their behavior in traffic by watching, imitating and repeating independently. Honestly asked: Do you always behave correctly? Even if you behave exemplary there are always other road users who don’t. Just looking at how the grown-ups behave in traffic won’t be enough to move safely in traffic.
Quelle: Landesverkehrswacht Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., Unfallkasse Rheinland-Pfalz, Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Landwirtschaft und Weinbau Rheinland-Pfalz (Hrsg.): Gib acht –Schulanfänger, S. 10
The way to school – practicing as homework
The way to school is, next to the way to kindergarten, one of the first longer and regular ways your child has to walk. Parents should use these ways to use their child to walking independently. The way to school lends itself particularly to practicing as you can meet all potential dangers and conflicts there. At the same time, the way to school is one of the safest ways for children as it stands under official surveillance and other road users are made aware of the little ones when they appear in huge numbers at the beginning and end of school. Parents should accompany their children at the start and make them aware of dangerous situations. Later, parents should send their children to school in groups accompanied by one adult (tip: take turns with other parents) or with friends, before they can make their way alone.
The way to school boosts the personality development of your child
The practicing of the way to school isn’t only a good preparation for the right behavior of your child in traffic. Walking to school is also very important for the personality development of your child. Your child learns to become independent and builds up self-confidence. He or she makes friends on the way and has the opportunity to move actively (cp. Topic “movement”)
What do you have to consider?
- Please don’t choose the shortest but the safest way to school for your child (broad footpaths, few crossings of roads). Please also take a look at the “Schulwegplan fuer Grundschulkinder” (“Plan for elementary pupil’s way to school”) on the website of the city of Kaiserslautern.
- Plan in enough time for the way to school so that your child won’t try to cross the street in a dangerous manner
- Walking on the footpath, please stay away from the curbstone to make sure that your child won’t be swept away by a vehicle.
- Please only cross streets at secure spots (traffic lights, traffic islands, and zebra crossings). Make your child aware that in spite of a green light it is important to look about
- Avoid spots that are hard to overlook to cross the street (parking cars)
- Before you cross the street, please stop at the curbstone’s edge and look left and right several times. Tip: replace the word “curbstone” with the word “stopstone”. The meaning of the curbstone then becomes clear for your child .
- Practice with your child to rate the speed of other road users (slow cyclist, fast truck)
- Other people make mistakes! Your child has to know that other road users might overlook him or her
- Tell your child again and again that he or she shouldn’t just blindly follow his or her friends, but has to take care of himself or herself.
Please only allow your child to walk to school alone if he or she is able to move confidently and safely in traffic.
Source: Landesverkehrswacht Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., Unfallkasse Rheinland-Pfalz, Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Landwirtschaft und Weinbau Rheinland-Pfalz (Hrsg.):
Gib acht –Schulanfänger, S. 7