Why it’s important to teach our children road safety
This is a sponsored post
You may have seen that recently I returned to work . So three days a week I’m going to and from work where I pass by many schools . I have been surprised by the amount of children that aren’t being safe by the roads. I think we need to do more to educate them about road safety and why it’s so important.
The thing we all need to remember is that children learn a lot by watching what we do. This is the same with road safety . On a few occasions I have seen adults with children crossing the roads when it’s not safe to. Most schools now have dedicated places to cross the roads with the help of a lollypop lady or man. So I don’t see why adults are doing this. Just imagine if you’re not with your child and they need to cross a road will they be able to do it safely. These parents that are crossing the road in the wrong places are showing their children how not to cross and it could easily result in them getting hurt or worse.
If you have older children that walk to school by themselves. It’s a good idea to take them on the walk they will do outside of school hours. This would be good to do before they start doing the walk by themselves. This way you can show them the best places to cross the road and also the safest route to walk. Plus if they were to be late getting back from school and you wanted to find them. You will know the route they will be taking. Also you may want to show them or talk about an emergency plan. So if for some reason they cannot take the route they would normally take. It’s a good idea to show them an alternative route that they only take in case of an emergency. You can never be too careful these days.
I pass quite a few schools on my way to work and gosh the roads gets so busy. People just park where ever they want to which is so dangerous. I bet the majority of the parents live locally and could actually walk if they were organised. Us adults need to keep in mind if we park on the roads that the road is still safe to use. If cars have to weave in an out of traffic this can make the road a more dangerous place. Also when cars mount on the footpath this can be really dangerous. It can force people to walk on the roads. Which isn’t good at all as the footpath is where people should walk. We just need to remember to be mindful when parking our cars.
With the darker evening on the way we need to make sure that our children are visible . This means making sure they wear reflective clothing. This doesn’t have to big a brightly coloured hi vis jacket. A lot of fashionable coats now include reflective sections on them. If your know your child will be walking home or on the roads when its dark. You need to make sure that they have something like this. Also you need to make sure that they are aware of the reasons for wearing it. There is no point you buying it them for them to shove it in their bag and not wear it.
I think ultimately us parents need to do more to make sure our children know the dangers of the roads. We need to educate them on how to properly cross the roads to make sure they are safe. We need to make sure we are doing all of this right and then our children will copy what we do. If you’re wanting some more information on road safety to share with your children. AXA have done a fantastic video that outlines all the things they need to know.