Road safety Encouraging children to walk to school with a comic and medals
The campaign "I walk! I can do it" campaign encourages children to make their own way to kindergarten. Launched in 2019 in the Baden AG region, the campaign is now being carried out in over 50 municipalities, including outside the canton of Aargau.
09.08.2024, 16:19
SDA
The new school year starts next Monday, August 12, in most districts of Aargau. This is a big step not only for the first graders, but also for the kindergarten children. They face the challenge of making their own way from home to kindergarten after a certain introductory period.
To help them do this, they are supported by police officers. Members of the Aargau regional police force regularly visit schools and kindergartens. They show them how to cross the road safely. "Wait, wait, wait, run", explains Roger Schneider from the Zurzibiet police force.
Comic by Globi illustrator
In many of the 50 or so participating municipalities, children and parents received a school route comic - together with the timetable - before the summer vacations, drawn by Zurich Globi illustrator Samuel Glättli. "It explains, for example, that the safest and not the fastest route should be chosen," says Schneider.
When the kindergarteners have completed their traffic lessons - after the start of the school year - there is another highlight: they receive a magnetic illuminated medal from the traffic instructors with the words "I can do this. I walk on foot".
"This can be attached to the luminous ribbon or the luminous vest," says Schneider. It is also intended to motivate children to walk to school on their own two feet.
20,000 children reached every year
Following the launch in the Baden region, the municipalities in the neighboring district of Zurzach have also been involved in the campaign for some time. Together with the municipality of Köniz BE and three municipalities in the canton of St. Gallen, the campaign reaches around 20,000 children every year, according to the website www.ichkanndas.ch.
