Oakland graduated another generation of children from Safety Town. Heights School Principal Barbara Ciambra brought together the numerous civic and municipal groups that make Safety Town happen in Oakland. The 2008 Safety Town Program was co-sponsored by the Oakland Board of Ed, the Oakland PBA, the Mother’s Club, the Father’s Club, and the Municipal Alliance. Other organizations that contributed time and resources included, the Oakland Police, the Volunteer First Aid Squad and Volunteer Fire Department, Bergen County Health Department, North Jersey AAA, and Hackensack University Hospital. Shop Rite of Oakland, Abma’s Farm and Oakland Bagels&Pastry also contributed to the sucess of the program.
Most importantly, the young volunteers who assume roles as Safety Town Leaders and Village Managers provide the children with a bridge between the world of childhood and the world of adults. Their efforts serve not only to make Safety Town a success, but enrich their own lives with an opportunity to assume vital roles of responsibility. The involvement of Oakland’s young adults exemplifies the value of generations linking together and lending a hand to those a few rungs down the ladder.
Oakland’s version of Safety Town has been in existence since 1985, and Principal Ciambra’s speech detailed how our unique vision evolved and continues to grow. But the interest in formalizing education in safety for children can be traced back to the turn of the century. In 1923, more than 500,000 children wrote essays on traffic safety, and more than 60,000 teachers wrote lessons on safety training for a contest sponsored by National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. The prizes were none to shabby for the time, first prize was a gold watch and a trip to Washington for the child, and teachers could win $500 and a trip to Washington. The 1928 report of the NACC indicated that major cities throughout the United States were showing significant drops in motor vehicle fatalities, and they attributed a large portion of this was due to education of school children in safety
In July of 1938, Mayor LaGuardia of New York City was reminding parents to be vigilant in continuing to educate their children on safety practices during the summer months. He reported that the city’s efforts in promoting continued safety education had led to dramatic results. July and August of 1934 had 52 children killed in the two month period, and that number was down to 22 killed in 1939. He attributed the success to many factors such as more playgrounds and better cars, but the most effective factor was the safety campaign of the Police Department and the instructions taking place in the schools.
Schools had always taught safety, but by the late 1920s, it was beginning to institute formalized instruction in practical safety education on stoves, plugs and sharp tools in addition to the traffic safety lessons. Traffic
safety was felt to not only save lives, but to foster good citizenship and greater sense of responsibility for young children. One safety contest led to the “ingenious invention” of a “screen guard” by one young boy in order to prevent his little sister from falling out of an apartment window. Using a teaching model which is becoming popular again, safety was incorporated into various school subjects. Students learning mathematics would use the statistical tables of insurance companies for computation problems, and art instruction would incorporate the design of slogans and banners on safety. Schools also instituted student safety patrols wearing the familiar Sam Brown belt which is still popular with crossing guards, NJ State Police, and flourecent versions for cyclists.
The origins of Safety Town have been informally attributed to the City of Mansfield, Ohio. It was in 1937, in response to the death of a child hit by a car, that Mansfield Police Officer Friend C. Boals and kindergarten teacher Mrs. Ruth Robbins-Idle initiated the Safety Town Program. The concept of “Safety Town” spread rapidly, and by 1941 it was being instituted in small towns and big cities around the country. AAA was an early sponsor of the program, and the City of Pittsburgh in 1940 announced it as one of its most successful programs with 20,000 children attending.
Readers can click here to access Principal Ciambra’s Speech. It gives a better description of all the efforts that went into Oakland’s Safety Town, and can easily be printed out for those wanting a keepsake or for those who maintain scrapbooks of children’s milestones.