Children and traffic safety

Andreja Sokol, učiteljica

Summary

Traffic education is an integral part of the educational endeavors of the modern primary school, which has a duty to educate pupils and help them cultivate, and form habits of healthy living, to develop a concern for the protection of their health and life as well as that of others. In the first cycle of basic school, we encounter learning content regarding traffic in all school subjects. I try to dedicate a lot of time to the topic of traffic, either in lessons or just during a walk with my pupils. It is precisely this age period – children between the ages of 6 and 8, that is the most critical because it is a time when a child is not yet able to participate safely in traffic but they have to part-take in it.

Keywords: traffic-related content, road safety, child pedestrian.

Introduction

These days, our roads are overcrowded with different means of transport. Whereas in the past, there were hardly any cars on the road. That is why we need to teach and train our young people to participate in traffic independently from an early age. Traffic education starts in the family, continues in kindergarten and primary school, and goes on for the rest of a person’s life. As soon as children learn to walk, they become pedestrians. They participate in traffic daily, most often when they attend kindergarten and school. This is why special attention needs to be paid to traffic education. This is done in the classroom at school, through verbal instruction, using a variety of materials (visual materials, books, the Web, educational videos, etc.), and supplemented by practical exercises in real-life traffic situations.

Traffic-related topics in the classroom

Children walk on the street to and from school every day. Therefore, it is essential that they are exposed to basic traffic rules as soon as kindergarten. From first grade onwards, this knowledge should be further deepened.

Each school year, we spend a lot of time with younger pupils on traffic-related content. We also participate in various traffic-related projects, such as the Safely to Kindergarten and School project, and the Pasavček project managed and coordinated by the Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency.

I incorporate traffic-related content into my regular lessons, particularly in school subjects like environmental education and music, Slovenian, art, maths, and sport.

The following objectives are pursued in environmental education:

• pupils learn the meaning of traffic signs on their way to school,
• they know pedestrian safety rules, such as crossing the road,
• they understand the importance of visibility in traffic, e.g., wearing a yellow bandana,
• they understand the dangers of traffic in different weather conditions,
• they observe and become familiar with safe traffic routes around the school.

We take walks around the school area with the pupils to give them the experience of how to behave properly in traffic. We emphasize the benefits of wearing reflective gear and familiarize ourselves with local high-danger places and traffic signs. We place great emphasis on wearing seat belts, walking on the road, and crossing pedestrian crossings safely.

In music, we sing songs about traffic, like Traffic lights. We use sounds to imitate things, vehicles, and traffic situations (e.g., tires braking) and are practicing attentive listening, which is very important in traffic.

In maths, we develop spatial awareness, learn about identifying the position of an object in relation to oneself, and solve interactive tasks, mazes, and traffic-related worksheets. Being able to distinguish left from right on the road is particularly important.

In art, many of our creative efforts have a traffic theme. We draw or paint realistic traffic situations. We make vehicles from packaging waste materials or building blocks. We also make a model of traffic routes in our school area, with road signs, that we learned about in class. These include mainly traffic signs important to pedestrians in the school area. We use a variety of materials and tools, e.g. coloring sheets, paint, crayons, collage paper, etc.

Figure 1. Traffic signs                         Figure 2. Artwork

In Slovenian, we read stories about traffic, evaluate the veracity, understandability, and usefulness of a text with traffic content, and develop pre-literacy skills. In groups, pupils write interesting and fun poems about traffic.

In sports, for example, we prepare an obstacle course with certain traffic signs and the pupils have to take this into account when doing the exercises.

Everything we create is used in classroom and playground games. We use traffic signs, a model of the traffic routes around the school, reflective gear, and toy cars. We also make seat belts and cars out of chairs, for example.

Figure 3. Model of traffic routes around the school

We include parents, other school staff, and the school bus driver. We often invite a police officer.

Emphasis is also put on caring for the environment. We discuss air, water, and soil pollution caused by traffic. Thus encouraging them to choose a less polluting means of transport, such as walking or cycling.

The Pasavček Project

The Pasavček project focuses on the use of seat belts and car seats in vehicles. After talking to pupils, we repeatedly find that most pupils ride in cars in appropriate car seats. However, it is worrying that some of them are already riding in the front seat or do not always wear a seat belt.

The Safe to Kindergarten and School project

The main aim of the project is to raise awareness about the most vulnerable group in traffic – the children, since the start of a school year is always the most pressing period with regard to children’s safety. The goal of the project is to enhance the children’s comprehensive knowledge of road safety, raising awareness of the importance of the sustainability component.

We take the pupils on a walking tour of the local area, where we observe safe and dangerous road sections. In a concrete traffic situation, we learn how to walk when alone or in a group and how to cross the road safely. We talk extensively about the different types of traffic and the dangers we face. We make a traffic obstacle course in the school playground.

We use the Web for realistic demonstrations of correct behavior in traffic. Videos, which can be found on the Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency’s website, are very helpful.

Figure 4. Safe routes plan around the school

Findings

It is very important to include traffic-related content in all classroom subjects as much as possible and to spend a lot of time on practical exercises, in the field – in traffic. It is important to note that some primary schools do not have the possibility for pupils to see a “real” intersection with traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, and cycling lanes. In smaller towns, teachers have at their disposal more “modest” intersections, and more importantly, not enough traffic signs on the road.

Some pupils gain a lot of knowledge about traffic at home, while others know very little. It is not as important for pupils to recognize all the traffic signs they see on the road as it is to know the basic ones well and abide by them. It has also been my experience that if someone is watching them, pupils are much more attentive to every step than when they are on the street alone or with their peers. Most of them know that we wear our seat belts not for the police, but for ourselves, to protect our lives. From what the pupils tell me, it seems that some parents are not yet sufficiently aware of the importance of the car seat and the seat belt, therefore we will have to continue to draw their attention to this issue. Many times it is the children that warn their parents to buckle up or to drive more slowly because they are afraid.

Conclusion

A child’s world is different from that of an adult. It is free of cars, the constant threat they pose, strange traffic rules, and funny road signs that stand on the side of the road. Traffic rules and signs tell a child nothing. A child requires a lot of freedom and needs to move. But we, the adults restrict that with roads and streets. We must help the child to survive in this world and to have as pleasantly and, above all, as safe a childhood as possible. That is why we teach children about traffic in the classroom and on location, by providing a good example and exhibiting safe behavior. They need to acquire the necessary knowledge, experience, and principles that will guide them in traffic-related situations throughout their lives. We must be mindful, however, that children can only gain the necessary knowledge and experience in concrete traffic situations.

References

1. Janžekovič Žmauc, I. (2020). Učenec pešec: učno gradivo za spodbujanje varne mobilnosti otrok v 1. triletju. Ljubljana: Javna agencija RS za varnost prometa. Sektor za preventivo in vzgojo v cestnem prometu.
2. Markl, M., Žlender, B. (2015). Prvi koraki v svetu prometa. Ljubljana: Javna agencija RS za varnost prometa.