Safety Quotient
The safety of the children in and outside the home is of real
concern for all of us specially when they are travelling from home to school and back. Not
only this the traffic on roads particularly in the cities has reached a
situation that if corrective and preventive measures are not taken immediately,
it will prove to be extremely dangerous to all in general and the school going
kids in particular. The number of
vehicles on road nearly doubles in every five years but the width of the road
remains the same thereby causing bottle-necks at every short distance. To add
to this sorry state of affairs, there are traffic rules which are frequently
violated. In this condition, the children are the most vulnerable group whether
they are on the roads or commuting to
and fro the school. The Supreme Court of India has clearly mentioned the
guidelines for the safety and security of school going children particularly
while they are travelling by school buses. Most of the schools hire the buses
on contract and others have their own buses for the transportation of the
students. The education for the children
is important but at the same time the safety and health of the children is of
prime concern for the parents as well as the schools. We come across many
grievous news reports in the newspapers now and then regarding the difficulties
faced by the children in the school or in the buses while travelling to and
from schools. Everybody is concerned regarding the safety of the children and a
lot has been done in this area but much more is required to be done. The recent
news of an accident in which a child lost his life just because he was not
watchful for his safety, has disillusioned the society. Before this also there
have been casualties because of the fault of the driver or the child himself. Whosoever was responsible for unfortunate
incident, an innocent life was lost which
is a great loss not only to the parents of child but also to the nation.
Whenever such incidents take place everybody shows a lot of concern and all
remember and remind themselves about the safety guidelines of the honourable
Supreme Court and blame game continues for a few days to be forgotten till the
next similar unfortunate incident takes place.
Earlier the role of the school and school teachers was limited to
imparting education in the school and not really about the commutation of the
students. They were concerned for their safety on school campus and by and
large they were able to perform their duties quite well. In the last few years,
when the schools started to be established at a distance from the main city
because of the scarcity of land available within city limits the school buses
became an important means of transporting the children because it was not
possible for the parents to do the pick-up and drop for their kids every day.
Also the children cannot reach school on their own because of the distance and
mainly due to the traffic menace in our country. As all schools cannot afford to possess their
own buses hence the transporters are approached for the sake of helping the
children and parents. Most of the buses employed by such transport contractors
are those which ply on city routes also, so it becomes difficult for the school
to ensure all the safety measures. But
within these limitations, the safety of
the children can be advanced by taking simple corrective measures like having
the first aid box, a helper/support staff in addition to driver so that they
can have proper watch on the activities of the children in the bus and also
while they board and get down from the bus. The safety grills are extremely
important and should be ensured in all buses irrespective of whether these are
school owned buses or hired buses. The
drivers and the helpers should be counselled on regular basis so that they
understand the requirements and problems of the children better. A speed limit
check of 40 kilometers an hour is equally imperative to be maintained. The
schools and parents must continuously talk to the children regarding the
precautions they can take while travelling by the buses. One thing which I found missing in the
discussions which takes place on safety of the school children is, the
awareness among the children for their own careful conduct and self discipline. Every time the blame is put on the school bus
driver, teachers, school authorities or somebody else without mentioning
anything for the child. In the incident
which I mentioned above, the child took
his head out of the bus window for some reason and suddenly got hit by pole
outside. Now even if there were many
teachers in the bus and the child had done the same, all of a sudden nobody
would have been able to predict and stop the child. What I want to convey here
is that we have to make our children more aware of the safety measures to be
taken by them which can help to save them from many unfortunate incidents. At the same time the schools and teachers
must learn from such unfortunate incidents and try their level best to create a
safe environment as at times the safety of the children is jeopardised because
of their slackness. It is the responsibility of the teachers and
parents to teach and guide children the lessons of self safety self. It has been found that the children do not
listen to the helper and at times even the teachers in the buses and put
themselves in a dangerous situation. I
remember one incident in which two children sitting by the window side were
playing some game to exhibit their strength to each other and when the bus
slowed down because of some obstruction in front, the children got imbalanced
and one of them got multiple fractures in his elbow . Now in this case no other
person could have been responsible for the incident but the children
themselves.
Even in the school campus the safety of the children should be paid
more attention to, more than what is being done today. As the number of students in Indian schools is
in many thousands hence it becomes all the more important for everyone
particularly the school management and teachers to ensure that our children are
safe while they are in the school. They
should be trained and taught of the ways they should walk through the corridors
and inside the classrooms. The furniture
should be designed in such a manner so as not to hurt the active children of
the school. More precautions should be
taken at the time of dispersal of the children after the school is over because
at that time all of them want to be the first to get a better seat and in the
process they tend to push each other and run.
In this they themselves might get hurt or may hurt others also. The teachers should be around and with the
children to guide and check them. If this is done for sometime then the
children will inculcate the habit of walking properly towards the buses.
In the end, I would like to say that no one person/agency can be
held responsible for any unfortunate incident but at the same time this is sure
that if we all work sincerely (including children) then the safety of the
children can be ensured to the maximum and that is what all of us want. So in spite of blaming others, we must play
our role actively and to the best of our ability. By teaching the basic life
skills, guiding them to develop the sense of right and wrong, imbibing
self-realization and self discipline, perhaps a greater safety can be
ensured. Wishing a safe and happy
schooling to all the children.
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