As adults, our job is to protect children, but also to make sure they have the tools they need to keep themselves safe.
Safe Kids Week is an annual campaign to do just that. Held every year by Parachute, Canada’s national charity dedicated to injury prevention, the week is a way to raise public awareness about preventable injuries in children.
Held May 30
th to June 5
th, 2022, this year’s campaign will focus on promoting safe and active transportation for children. The goal is to encourage kids and their families to stay active, while ensuring that children know how to stay safe as they travel to and from school, and around their communities.
Preventing childhood injuries and deaths
Every year in Canada, more than 1,500 children under the age of 15 are injured by motor vehicles while they’re walking or cycling in their communities. Tragically, children are also seriously injured or killed in incidents involving railway tracks and trains.
To prevent these incidents, children need to know how to get from point A to point B safely, especially if they live near railway tracks. That’s why they need to be taught these simple, but important, rail safety rules:
- Never play on or near railway tracks or trains
- Only cross tracks at designated railway crossings
- Always stop, look in both directions, and listen for trains before crossing tracks at railway crossings
- Never throw things at trains or place items on railway tracks
- Stay off your phone and avoid distractions when around tracks and trains
- Obey all railway signs and signals
- Never use tracks as a shortcut
Doing your part to keep kids safe
Safety is a shared responsibility—and children aren’t the only ones who need to follow the rules. We all have a role to play in creating environments that enable children to engage in active and safe transportation.
As drivers, we can do simple things like driving slower, keeping a safe distance away from cyclists and pedestrians, putting away distractions like cell phones, and always being alert, especially in school zones or areas where kids are more likely to be playing.
You can also help out by promoting Safe Kids Week, and safe and active transportation, in your community. Go to the campaign
website to find key messages and a social media guide that you can use. And check out the resources on Operation Lifesaver’s
website to help teach the children in your life how to stay rail-safe.