Early school runs alarming
.
Early school runs alarming
– Monday, 17 November 2008
Primary-school children left at school gates up to 50 minutes before schools open are playing chicken with cars on a busy Christchurch road.
Reports of the dangerous game come as no surprise to police, who say at least two children are injured in crashes outside New Zealand schools every morning.30am.
Mairehau Primary School principal John Bangma said about two dozen children were waiting outside the school gates when they opened each day at 8.
"We have had, occasionally, a child out there even as early as 7.
"It's always the few that are there and it leads to a few problems, really," he said.
"There is certainly a group of them there at 8am who have had parents drop them off," Bangma said.40 in the morning.30am.
The children had parents who had to start work at 8am or 8.
"And then you've also got the families where the children are, I guess, just organising themselves entirely.
"We've also got some where the children are left home and they just leave for school when they're ready.
"Are parents actually aware of what their kids are up to?" Bangma asked."
Bangma wrote to parents last week asking them to find a safe alternative to dropping children off early."
The issue was raised with Bangma by a neighbour of the school who saw pupils playing chicken with cars driving along Innes Road, and feared a child would be hurt.
"If it comes between a child and a car, a car is going to win.
Head of police youth services Senior Sergeant John Robinson said negligent parents risked finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Some parents thought the school had responsibility for pupils as soon as they left home, but this was not the case, Bangma said."
Police statistics showed at least two children were injured outside New Zealand schools every morning and one every afternoon, he said.
"You do open yourself up to that query as to whether or not you have taken the responsible approach with your kids.
"Kids unsupervised do dumb things, but, unfortunately, when they do dumb things, often the results are really, really, serious," Robinson said.
A report cited by former police minister Annette King last year said 1330 children in the five years to 2005 were killed or injured near schools during school terms, particularly during the high-risk morning and afternoon periods.40am was "completely and utterly unrealistic and unreasonable".
Canterbury Primary Principals' Association president David Taylor said an expectation that children could be left at school at 7."
Taylor, who is the principal of rural Fernside School in Rangiora, said a growing issue at his school was unsupervised children being left at bus stops."
Taylor, who is the principal of rural Fernside School in Rangiora, said a growing issue at his school was unsupervised children being left at bus stops.
"It's happened out here where kids have stood at bus stops and waited without parent supervision, and what do they do? They go run out on the road and back again.
"That's a growing one," Taylor said. .
SAFE ALTERNATIVES
Senior Sergeant John Robinson suggests:
Talk to your boss. "Some employers are great; some, it's much more difficult, but you actually need to go and have that conversation with them."
Car pool. "Check with your kid's friends. In amongst it all, every household in most of those schools is having those issues."