School students learn road safety with joy and fun

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 09/24/2008 10:41 AM  |  Headlines

Some 150 primary school students burst out laughing as a storyteller imitated the sound of an electric drill while trying, in pantomime, to fix his motorcycle's gas tank, which was actually their friend's belly.

"OK, I have checked my motorcycle's condition and put on my helmet. Now we are ready to go to our hometown..." Yusron Muchsin, better known as Kak Ucon, told Aksa, one of two mascots for a road safety program run by PT Shell Indonesia.

Most of the students, seeing that Aksa was not wearing a helmet yet, promptly shouted "Hey, he's not wearing a helmet!" and pointed to Aksa's head.

This brief educational program by the National Police's traffic police division at state elementary school O5 in Tebet, South Jakarta, on Tuesday showed that awareness of the need to wear safety helmets seemed to be widespread among school children.

Knowledge, however, does not always translate into practice.

Safira Maharani, a fifth grader, said she never wore a helmet on the ride home from school.

"My house is not far, so I don't need to wear a helmet. But my mother always wears one," Safira said, adding she did not plan to ask her parents to buy her one simply for the commute between school and home.

Shell Indonesia social investment manager Sri R. Wahyu Endah said Tuesday's event was aimed at improving students' road safety awareness ahead of the annual Idul Fitri holiday and the related exodus, known as mudik.

During the holiday, millions of city residents, including many school-age children, travel to their hometowns to celebrate one of Islam's biggest festivities with their families.

The road safety program is promoting advice from Jakarta Traffic Police on safe motorcycle-riding, with police predicting the number of motorcyclists making the trip home could reach 2.5 million, a rise of 15 percent from last year.

"We hope the children can warn their parents if they see them violating traffic safety or regulations," said Adj. Sr. Comr. Subono, the National Police's head of community education.

The program also had the added bonus of changing the children's perception of the police. After a singing and learning session with officers, and listening to funny stories, some children made an about-face.

"I used to be afraid of police officers. But I am not afraid now because I got to know them," Safira told The Jakarta Post.

Her classmate, Mirna, echoed the same sentiments, saying she used to be afraid of the police for fear of "being ticketed".

The two girls said they would warn their parents to obey the traffic regulations they just learned, when traveling by car to Central Java to celebrate Idul Fitri with their respective extended families.

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