Parent patrol makes walk to school safer for kids

By Emily Kintzer

A Parent Patrol and Walking School Bus is making it easier to get to and from school, helping to make the community safer and hoping make it easier for students to focus on learning at Alfred D. Kohn Elementary School in Chicago.

CHICAGO – Imagine having to endure the loud talk of intoxicated men, drug dealing and gang members every time you leave the house. Pretty bad, right? Imagine you are eight-years-old and must face these problems daily walking to and from school.

Many children who attend Alfred D. Kohn Elementary School in the Roseland neighborhood face these hurdles every day. Understaffed and under-budget Kohn refuses to hire more security guards and police are conspicuously absent from the area.  It’s no surprise that as a result of these problems school attendance has been down.

The situation seemed disheartening and unchangeable until 15 parents stepped forward and refused to lose hope. In recent months, these parents decided that if the school and the police would not provide security, they would. The parents came together with the Developing Communities Project to form a Parent Patrol/Walking School Bus.

Armed with determination, compassion and bright orange vests, these parents stake out the most dangerous locations around the school and station an adult supervisor in the areas three times a day. Kohn children are supervised while crossing streets, unwanted adults stay away from school grounds, and three hazardous alleys used as main paths to school have been closed off. Kohn’s Parent Patrol and Walking School bus is taking the fear out of walking to school and helping students focus on learning, the reason why they come to school.

Emily Kintzer was an NTIC intern and worked on the Developing Communities Project’s walking school bus.