'Signs out, cross now' - thousands of Kiwi kids help celebrate nearly 90 years of school road patrol

September 7, 2018

Thousands of school road patrollers took to Wellington streets to celebrate Kiwi institution.

School road patrol is a tradition that spans nearly nine decades in New Zealand, with children across the country outside come rain or shine to help their schoolmates get to school safely.

Each year, over 23,000 students take part in road patrol, and nearly 2000 of them took to the streets of Wellington today to celebrate the Kiwi tradition.

"People can stay safe and, like, not get injured," one school patroller said.

For decades, the school children been commanding the streets before and after school, with the first patrols beginning in the early 1930s.

It became so popular that it was passed into law as uniforms were standardised and warning devices were installed.

Now, patrollers’ efforts have been rewarded with a prize-giving.

Wellington councillor Chris Calvi-Freeman said, "Places like England, it's lollipop ladies and lollipop men but here, it's the school kids and it's a great tradition".

School Community Officer Constable Aaron Dann praised the tradition, saying it "gives the children a responsibility and the appreciation of traffic control around their schools".

It's estimated at least two children a week are injured as pedestrians, mostly in the period before and after school, with experts saying children are often slower to identify risks.

"Children behave in a spontaneous manner, so when they get hit, they're very small and so they get injured badly," Starship Hospital paediatrician Dr Mike Shepherd said.

The school kids should be more than proud to be doing their part to keep their friends safe.

SHARE ME

More Stories