Did you Know…
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "At age 6, children aren't good at judging sound, distance, or the speed of a moving car! Teach your children to stop at the curb and to never cross the street without a grown-up. Make sure your child wears a helmet every time he or she rides a bike."
As parents, keeping our children safe from the many dangers that lurk both inside and outside the home, is our main concern. Yet many fail to recognize that the mental limitations of a six-year-old prevent them from judging sound, distance, or the speed of a moving car. It is disturbing to think of the number of times school-aged children are left to cross the street by themselves!
In conjunction with these thoughts on safety, it would be good for us to remember that learning takes place over a period of time. We can sit down with our children and tell them the basics of street safety and perhaps even demonstrate it as well, but it will take repeated demonstration and reiteration of the rules for the information to take root and become a natural routine. Discuss the street safety rules below, but also walk with your children often to demonstrate the rules in action!
To be safe on our streets, children need to learn:
- Traffic signals and their meanings. An easy way to teach this is with the song “Red light stop, Green Light Go, Yellow means go very slow!”
- How to pause and look and listen for cars, not only from right to left, but from behind if crossing a busy intersection. Remember, it is sometimes legal to make a right hand turn on red – it is a hidden danger children may not think of!
- Children must also learn not to run out into the street chasing balls or toys – especially from between parked cars!
- Any child permitted to walk from home to another destination ought to know their full name, address and telephone number.
- At this age, it is also desirable to have the child call once their destination is reached.
While we teach these safety lessons from a very young age, it is also a good time to teach respect. Letting someone know where you are, and when you will return sets the scene for later years when this information is invaluable. The adults in our home reciprocate by leaving information about where we were going and our expected time of return. Doing so also sets up a feeling of trust and security for your children – a definite bonus!
Connie Newbauer - Connie Newbauer is a journalist with a background in education and psychology. For the past 30 years, she has been a freelance writer, ...
