September 2007

Be Smart, Be Active, Be Safe
Teach Your Kids to Put Safety First on the Way to School

By Breanne Boland

The beginning of the school year always requires a little review to get back up to speed; it’s true of math and science, and it’s true of the skills needed to get to school safely.

Dr. Brian Johnston, director of pediatrics at Harborview Medical Center, and Jen Cole, program manager of Feet First’s Safe Routes to School initiative, have suggestions on how parents can raise smart, aware children -– and get their kids to school in a safe and healthy way.

WALKING

Kids ages 5 to 9 are more likely to be involved in pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions than any other group.

The best way to teach kids to deal with traffic dangers is to walk with them. “Parents walking with kids should model good behavior,” says Johnston. “They should talk about what they’re doing and talk through making decisions.” Walk through different situations and different intersections, and demonstrate and explain the elements and thought processes involved in each situation. For example, a common scenario for a pedestrian-motor vehicle collision involves a child dashing into traffic either mid-block or at an intersection.

“The most common dangerous space for pedestrians is crossing a multilane road in a marked crosswalk,” Cole adds. “One car will stop for them, but the pedestrian sightline is limited. The pedestrian walks on, feeling that traffic has stopped, and the oncoming traffic in the other lane has not noticed a pedestrian is crossing.”

Organizations and local school districts have created walking maps of neighborhoods (see Resource List). “The way those routes are chosen is by where the marked crosswalks are, where there are adult crossing guards, where there are student patrols, where there are arterials that are not very well designed for pedestrians,” Cole says. Safe routes avoid blind hills and curves as well as areas with high traffic.

Even on clear, well-lit streets, “kids need to be seen,” says Johnston. This can mean walking in a group and wearing bright or reflective clothing, especially in the darker winter months of the Pacific Northwest.

BIKING

Before your child begins riding to school, take a bike ride around the neighborhood, showing the right way to behave around different kinds of traffic.

Bicycles are legally considered vehicles in the state of Washington. Kids biking in traffic must know that they are required to obey all traffic laws, stoplights and street signs. Children should be able to look over their shoulders to survey traffic without losing their balance; bicycles can be equipped with rearview mirrors to make this easier. Wearing headphones while driving a vehicle, including a bicycle, is illegal as well as hazardous. Emphasize to kids that all of their senses should be engaged in riding while on the road.

Reflective clothing is especially helpful for cyclists.

RIDING THE BUS

Getting to school by bus is generally safe – Washington has had no fatalities in school bus-related collisions since 1994. If your children take the bus to school, discuss the situations they are likely to face when getting on and off, such as dense school drop-off traffic. Bus drivers have limited or no visibility in the 10 feet immediately surrounding the sides, front and back of the bus. To cross in front of a bus, children should make sure to make eye contact with the driver before moving, and they should never cross behind a bus.

MINIMIZING RISKS

The commute to school is also safer when kids are better educated about real risk. Many parents are concerned about “stranger danger,” which isn’t surprising, as abductions are widely and nationally reported. “It’s a concern for a lot of people, but the reality is that it very rarely happens,” says Dr. Johnston. Accidents involving vehicles are a much larger danger.

More populated streets reduce these and other risks. When the sidewalks are busier and neighbors know each other better, it’s harder for crime to take hold. When people are familiar with the streets, they’re more likely to notice something out of the ordinary. Traffic is also slower in pedestrian- and cyclist-heavy areas.

Just as you should be familiar with your surroundings, it’s important to be familiar with your child. There is no magic age at which a child is ready to tackle the streets without an adult chaperone. “We generally say that kids under the age of 10 should be accompanied by an adult when they walk,” Johnson says. “It depends a lot on the child. Anything you ask your child to do, you should do with them first, and go with them many times before you let them undertake it on their own.”

These situations can be lessened by getting involved with your own neighborhood. Contact an organization like Feet First and see if a walking map of your neighborhood exists; if not, help to create one. Volunteer to host a walking school bus, in which one or two adults walk a set route, picking up kids on the way to school.

STAYING ACTIVE

These precautions are easier to take if you consider the overwhelming advantages of adopting a more active way to get to school. “In our clinic, we encourage families who can to have their kids walk to school,” says Johnston. “I think kids that walk to school get there ready to learn and more alert. It’s a great way to build exercise into their daily routine.”

Kids adopt habits more easily than teens or adults, so by adding exercise to their daily routine now, healthy children are more likely to become healthy adults. Fewer cars mean less congestion around schools, creating a safer environment for kids who walk, bike or board buses in the vicinity. Air quality improves, and “child drop-off rage” – as Cole calls it – decreases.

International Walk to School Day is Oct. 3. See if your child’s school is planning to celebrate. “The idea is to encourage everyone to change their norm for one day to do this community-building, healthy activity together to see how much fun it is,” Cole explains. “It’s something that so many of us used to do – 30 years ago, the majority of children would walk to school everyday.”

“In the last 30 years, the number of child pedestrian injuries has decreased dramatically,” reports Johnston. “It’s not because of increased safety, but because of a decrease in walking.” However, this decrease brings damaging side effects, such as obesity, traffic congestion and pollution.

There are few things as immediately beneficial to kids as walking or biking. Kids who walk or bike to school safely buck current childhood obesity trends and arrive at school alert and with some of their wiggly energy worked out, making them ready to learn.

Breanne Boland is a Seattle freelance writer.

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