Safe passage for children

welcome move

With schools in the City now reopened, children playfully running on the main roads, with heavy traffic, near the schools has become a common sight. 

To ensure safety of school children in the vicinity of schools, Bangalore traffic police has floated the idea of ‘Lollipop Man’, a service prevalent abroad. 

Explaining the concept, B Dayananda, additional commissioner of police  (Traffic), said that the ‘Lollipop Man’ is someone who wears an orange/green colour reflective overcoat with a ‘Stop/Schoolchildren Crossing’ signboard and  regulates vehicles in front of the school so that the children can safely cross the road.
 “Safety of school children is of prime importance in any civilised society. Children need greater care and comfort on the road. Small incidents involving schoolchildren attract wide criticism and anger.

Therefore, it is imperative that authorities and school managements provide safe journey mechanisms for schoolchildren,” he adds.
The ‘Lollipop Man’ will undergo one-day training at the traffic training institute enabling him to give signals for moving or stopping traffic to allow the safe passage of schoolchildren. 

All the school has to do is to appoint a person who will be trained by the traffic department and then pay a nominal fee for the signboard and uniform. Many schools across the City have responded to the initiative and few like Bishop Cotton Girls’ School have even implemented the concept on a pilot basis. 

Parents across the City re pleased and feel that the initiative will be helpful if it is made compulsory for all schools. 

Madhuri, a parent, says, “Last year, we read about so many accidents involving school children. So some initiative like this, where the guard is being trained by the traffic police itself, will be helpful. I feel schools should start taking this initiative more seriously.”

Agrees Muthamma,  another parent. “While it’s a good initiative, I still feel it is always better to go and pick up your child. While these initiatives look good on paper, I don’t know how far it will work on a practical level,” she adds. 
There are still a few who are sceptical about the initiative. Preethi, a professional, feels that apart from this, other basic facilities like zebra crossings in front of schools will also help.  “There are so many schools located on the main road and there is no proper zebra crossings for them,” she adds.