Guarding kids while they cross

COMMUNITY gardaí in Ennis were extra busy this week helping school children and their parents cross the road safely and properly.
The team of community guards visited primary and secondary schools throughout Ennis driving home the message of road safety as part of Garda Community Safety Week.
“We go through all elements of road safety with the children in a classroom environment and also outside the school at opening and finishing times. In the schools that I have visited, the children were very good on the rules of the road and they all knew the Safe Cross Code off by heart.
“What I focussed on with them was the importance of crossing the road at the right place and at the right time,” Garda Deirdre O’Doherty, Ennis town centre community garda said.
She added that often children are better than their parents in terms of road safety, so she also spoke to parents about road safety issues.
“Parents must stop walking where cars are entering the school. There are pedestrian entrances, which they should use. Children pick up bad habits from their parents, so they have to understand that they are responsible for their own and their children’s safety,” she added.
In addition, the gardaí want to emphasise the importance of wearing a cycling helmet, lighting up properly while cycling or walking in any level of darkness and using cycling lanes or footpaths everywhere they are available.
The community guards are also highlighting issues of personal safety to children this week.
“They sound like simple things, but we are highlighting to children the importance of not talking to strangers, not walking home alone, always telling a parent or responsible adult where they are going to. We also want all children to know the phone number of the local garda station,” she said.