Nichole Morse

ECHD 121
March 16, 2015
Safety Article Review

The article that I chose to read and review is titled City Works to Improve Safety for
Childrens Walk to School, from the Baltimore Sun newspaper. I chose this article because I
was very interested in how children safely arrive at school when they have to walk either with a
parent or alone. This article pertains to the safety measures implemented in the neighborhoods
of Baltimore, Maryland. This particular neighborhood discussed in the review is Wolfe Street
Academy, which is part of a 3 million dollar project the city had begun to ensure the routes to
school are safe. The program is called the Safe Routes to Schools and focuses on pedestrian
safety. The examples of the safety measures taken are; extra crosswalk markings, pedestrian
countdown signals, strategic placement of crossing guards and bright signs with flashing
beacons. Big green footprints are painted on the sidewalk within 500 feet of the schools, these
outline the designated route the children should take to arrive safely at school. Studies done in
the past have shown Baltimore to be one of the top cities in the nation at risk for pedestrian
danger. Dozens of children are hit each year, from 2009-2013 over a 1,000 pedestrians ages 5-14
were hit by traffic and injured, 5 actually died. In the Wolfe Street Academy school
neighborhood, this program was needed as 80-90% of the 220 children attending walk to school.
The Safe Routes to Schools program is funded by the federal government, 1 billion dollars has
been given to this program since 2005. Across the United States, 16,000 schools participate in

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this program. Safe Routes to Schools not only focuses on safety, it promotes physical activity
also.
I really enjoyed this article on safety measures to ensure young children arrive at school
safely. My own children ride the school bus to school, and I also rode the bus in my school
years. For a brief period we did live in the city, and I walked my oldest to and from pre-k daily.
I am aware that there are so many children that live in larger districts that walk with a parent or
alone every day. This article gave excellent insight on the programs available to schools to
ensure their students arrive to school and home in a safe manor. Even though Baltimore is a very
large area, smaller towns could also benefit from a similar program, as all schools have the same
goal of safety for their students.
This article is an excellent example of ideas currently being implemented in school
districts in the United States. From a teachers standpoint this article could be a starting point of
information that such safety programs exist and are federally funded. If Safe Routes to Schools
is not available in the particular area, research and exploration of how it could be implemented
would be beneficial, especially to a teacher in a larger area with many children walking to
school. In our area Canton, Potsdam, Ogdensburg, and Gouverneur are the closest larger school
districts with children who walk to school. If I was a teacher in one of these districts I would be
interested in this program. Parents want their children to be safe, as does the district in general,
so I would imagine this type of program would be well received.
The three ways I would directly apply this information in my classroom would be; the
first application would be knowledge on my part. I would gather all the information available on

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the program Safe Routes to Schools. I would find schools currently actively participating in the
program and interview them. Their first-hand knowledge would be invaluable as they would
ha
ve excellent tips on whether it is a successful program for their school. I also think I would have
to survey a few different schools, and look for one similar to my own area to be accurately
comparable. The second step would be to share the information with my superiors and then the
parents. I would have packets of information on the Safe Routes to Schools for them to take
home and read. I would have a group session outside of school to see if this program would be
wanted in the area. Mainly I would stress the beneficial aspect of the program which is safety
for the children. Without the parents support a program like this may not be considered. The
third way I would directly apply a program like this in my classroom would be to explain to the
children about a safety program and how it works. In Baltimore the city has painted bright
colored frogs and lily pads on the sidewalk to direct the children on the right path to a safe route
to school. In the classroom a similar laminated paper picture of bright colored animals could be
taped to the floor. The children could follow the path to a destination in the classroom. After the
activity a circle time discussion on safety could occur. The lesson could end on explanation of
the importance of following the correct path away from the traffic on the street to make it to the
safety zone- School. Even though we live in a rural area currently, all children would benefit
from safety lessons like these. Families may have to relocate to larger cities, and these children
would already be aware of the safety measures.

In a teachers prospective, this article would be valuable in the fact that it provided
excellent examples on the positive reinforcement of safety in the young childs environment. A
teacher comes to love the children she cares for daily, and knowing her children are safe coming
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to and from school eases the worry. This article was heartwarming in the way that it showed a
big city like Baltimore cares about their school children and their safety. Providing the children
and their families a safe route to and from school encourages a positive start and end to the
school day.