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The picture we published on our first page last Thursday must have sent shivers down the spines of many parents. For those who might have missed it, it was a picture of 11 schoolchildren from a primary school that was taken in Arcadia, with the pupils lying on the edges of Seke Road.
What made the picture frightening was that the children were lying with their heads just inches from the edges of the busy road.
Some of the children were fast asleep, oblivious of the danger they faced from being run over by vehicles.
The picture has raised a lot of debate around the security of schoolchildren from the time they leave home until they return. The major question is: Who is responsible for the security of the children the moment they leave their homes for school?
Is it the parents or the school? Well, we think that both the parents and the school must be equally held responsible for the schoolchildren’s safe journey to and from school.
What worries us is that it appears there are some parents and teachers who are now taking the safety of children for granted. In this regard, we urge the Government to intervene and come up with policies that bind schools and parents to ensuring that children are always safe when going to or coming from school.
It should be a policy that primary school children are accompanied to school by adults who are able to shield them from the dangers they are likely to face along the way.
In cases where parents cannot assign anyone to accompany their children, they must make an effort to ensure that they do so themselves.
There are many mishaps that can befall the children between the time they leave school and the time they get home.
In recent times, there have been cases of children who have disappeared or have been kidnapped. Several other children have been hit by vehicles while trying to cross busy roads without anyone assisting them.
We believe that this alone should spur parents to fear for their children. Regrettably, this appears not to be the case judging by the picture we published on Thursday.
This means that danger is always lurking for the children as they leave home for school or vice versa. We have of late witnessed some children in school uniforms being involved in all sorts of delinquencies as soon as they leave home or the school premises.
The best way is for schools to provide transport for the children whom they must drop at their destinations where an adult should be waiting for them.
We recognise that not all schools have buses for children, but those which have them have done a good job in ensuring the safety of children.
We also commend some schools that have gone an extra mile to ensure that the safety of children is guaranteed.
Such schools make sure that no one collects a child from school unless they are parents of the particular child or they are someone introduced to the school authorities by the parents.
Our observation is that schools with such tight security measures attract confidence from the parents who do not hesitate to enrol their children.
Every stakeholder must understand that school children travel forms an important part of the children’s well-being and safety. We urge parents and school authorities to constantly engage on security matters surrounding the children.
This will ensure that we will not have such shocking pictures like the one we published on Thursday. Parents must always ask their children about safety measures in their school for them to help the school to plug the gaps, if any exist.
We believe that the security should not be only for the children when they travel to and from school. Schools must have policies and procedures on security and emergency preparedness, in addition to having a safety team, safety plan, a school crisis team and school emergency/crisis preparedness guidelines.
Parents and school authorities should always consider what measures might be appropriate to make the area around a school a safe place for children to enter and leave.
Online Reporter