The primary task of all parents isensure the well-being of their children. Long before the baby is born, parents practically memorize various rules that will allow them to raise happy and healthy people. But, unfortunately, very few parents remember the need to teach their child the most important rule - the rules of conduct on the roads. But not only the health, but even the life of the child often depends on this. Timely learned traffic rules for children have saved more than one thousand children's lives. However, it is never too late to make up for this omission - and the sooner you do it, the less likely it is that your little one will suffer on the road. Parents of small children, do not rush to close this page, believing that this information is still completely irrelevant for your child and you do not need traffic rules for children. Time flies ugly fast - before you even have time to blink, the time will come when your child will start going to school on his own. And the safety of children on the road will be more important to you than ever. And even before school, knowing the rules of conduct on the road can be useful to your child more than once. Here he is walking with his mother by the hand first to the playground, then to the parking lot or the store located across the street. It would seem that the child is almost always under the constant, vigilant supervision of adults. However, children are the most unpredictable creatures on the planet, and it is often simply impossible to predict what they will do at any given second. A child can pull your hand away or run away at the moment when you literally weakened your attention for a split second. According to statistics, about half of all accidents in road accidents involving children occur in the courtyards of residential buildings or on nearby roads. The combination of "children and the road" is quite an explosive mixture and requires the most vigilant supervision from adults.
Better sooner than later
Think about it!It is much more reasonable that by the age when the child can run, he already knows the basics of safe behavior on the roads. We do not urge you to force the baby to learn all the rules of the road by heart, but any parent can instill the basic skills of safe behavior on the roads. Moreover, it is necessary to start telling children about the rules of the road as early as possible, even when the child is in a stroller. And it is necessary to start teaching the child, first of all, with working on yourself. At the time when the baby travels on the street exclusively in a stroller or in the arms of the parents, they are responsible for observing the rules of the road. Do not think that your baby is still so small that he will not pay absolutely any attention to the color of the traffic light. Believe me, children are extremely observant and notice around them many times more than adults, because their keen perception of the surrounding world is not dulled by any household and everyday troubles, and their natural curiosity and desire to learn about the world are at a very high level. And the correct behavior of parents on the road will certainly be deposited in the child's mind. And this knowledge can surface to the surface of consciousness at the most unexpected, but necessary moment. And sometimes they can even save the life of your baby. Compliance with traffic rules in any family should be brought to automatism, then the child, as they say, with mother's milk will absorb disciplined behavior on the roads. Remember that the road is an area of increased danger and does not forgive negligent attitude towards itself. Alas, not all drivers adhere to the principle of "be careful, children on the road" even near schools, not to mention other sections of the road.
Top - top, stomping baby
As already mentioned, first of all, trainingshould be done by personal example. No matter how many times a day you repeat to your child that it is necessary to cross the road only at a pedestrian crossing and only on a green light, your words will not do any good if you yourself, like a mountain saiga, jump on a red light, and even in the wrong place, while holding the baby's hand. Try to interest your child in the rules of the road, turning the learning process into an exciting game. As a rule, children are always very interested in traffic lights - they are attracted by their bright changing colors. Of course, the child will definitely ask you what a traffic light is for. This natural curiosity will be a great reason to tell him how to cross the road correctly, and at the same time teach him the colors. Be sure to regularly, during each walk, reinforce the knowledge gained again and again. When approaching a pedestrian crossing, be sure to ask the child if you can cross the road now. If your little one answers incorrectly, do not scold him under any circumstances, but calmly repeat the information to the child about what color of the traffic light means and what a pedestrian needs to do. All children are different - be prepared to repeat everything dozens of times before the child finally firmly learns your lesson. If your child answers the question correctly, do not skimp on praise - praise the child, let him understand that his correct answer is very important to you. But at the same time, ask him a couple more questions about what needs to be done if a different traffic light is on. In approximately the same way, you need to explain to the child what a safety island is, its purpose and the rules for using it. Be consistent in your demands and actions, do not contradict yourself under any circumstances - your words should never diverge from your actions, especially in front of the child. Very often, you can see a rather sad picture at pedestrian crossings: a child resists and screams with all his might, pointing to a red traffic light with his hand, and the parents, despite the indignation of their child, pull him across the road, saying something like: "let's go quickly, while there are no cars nearby." With such behavior, you not only confuse the child in his understanding of what is allowed and what is strictly prohibited, but also contribute to the formation of so-called "double standards." Parents often act in this way, without thinking at all about how their behavior will be perceived by children. And you should not be surprised later, when the child grows up, that his words almost always diverge from his actions. By and large, the child is not guilty of anything, and his behavior seems to him the only correct one. And how could it be otherwise? After all, mom and dad did the same.
Children see the road in a different way!
For our children, the road often looks completely different than it does for us. Below are the most striking features of the psychological perception of a moving car by young children.
- Children's eye.
Children who have reached approximately three years of age,are already quite capable of distinguishing a stationary car from a moving one. However, a child is not able to give a real assessment of the danger of a car moving in their direction due to their age-related mental characteristics. Small children cannot realistically assess either the distance at which a car is located or its approximate speed. Well, and the child certainly cannot know that any car has a certain braking distance. In the minds of almost any child, a real car is no different from a toy car that can be stopped immediately.
- Sources of sound.
The structure of a child's hearing aid has its ownfeatures. Because of this, children up to about six years of age are very bad at determining where a particular sound is coming from. And the sound of moving vehicles is no happy exception to this rule - a small child very often cannot determine the noise of an approaching car.
- Selective children's attention.
Age-related features of child psychologyare such that the child's attention is extremely selective. This is why a small child is unable to concentrate his attention on several objects at once for more than two or three seconds. Then the child picks out only one object from the general picture, on which he concentrates all his attention. As a rule, the child pays attention to the object that is interesting to him at the moment, for example, a ball that has rolled out onto the roadway. The child simply will not notice an approaching car, and, unfortunately, trouble may happen.
- The process of inhibition of the nervous system.
In a child of the first ten years of life, the centralthe nervous system is not fully developed, so he reacts to dangerous situations in a completely different way than adults. Seeing a car in front of them, 9 out of 10 kids will freeze in horror, covering their eyes with their palms. A false stereotype inherent in all children without exception will work in their brains: "if I do not see danger, then it does not exist, and everything will be fine with me! " Unfortunately, two thirds of all road accidents involving children occur according to a similar scenario.
- Features of the vision of babies.
Until about 7-8 years of age, everyone hasWith the exception of children, "tunnel vision" is noted. With this type of vision, the child's brain perceives only the object that is directly in front of the child. Peripheral vision is simply absent. And if the child can still notice a chance to see a car moving towards him, then he will definitely not be able to notice a vehicle approaching from the side. By the way, this is why the golden rule of the road should become a child's rule of the road, which states the need to look around before crossing the road - first to the left, and then to the right. If the child does not know about this need, a real disaster can happen. The rules of conduct for children on the road should take into account all these nuances.
- Inadequate hazard assessment.
Due to his age, everything is big for a childseems very scary. The child's reaction is primarily caused by the dimensions of the car, but the baby does not pay any attention to its speed. A child regards a slowly moving truck as a much greater danger than a car rushing at high speed. Be sure to pay attention to this feature of the child's psyche and constantly draw the baby's attention to the correct criteria for assessing danger.
- Low growth of crumbs.
Another enemy of the baby on the road ishis small stature. From his height, a child is often simply physically unable to assess the real situation on the road, especially if there are cars parked on the side of the road near a pedestrian crossing. The road looks completely different through the eyes of children. And it is more difficult for a driver to notice such a young pedestrian, especially when it comes to trucks.
Learning? Playing!
The easiest way for children to learn about the world is through play.So, take advantage of this feature of child psychology and play out with your child all possible situations that he or she may encounter on the road. To do this, teachers recommend using visual aids, which are very easy to make yourself. Take a sheet of Whatman paper and draw road markings on it. Simulate motor transport using toy models of cars, and the role of pedestrians can be played by small animal figures from sets or chocolate eggs with a surprise. To begin with, you will have to show your child, and more than once, how exactly to behave in a given situation. Be patient and answer all your child’s questions in detail, no matter how strange and stupid they may seem. Then be sure that your little one has learned the information you have received. Switch roles with him or her – now let him or her explain to you the rules of safe behavior on the road. Ask your child clarifying questions, change the input data – the child should theoretically be ready for any possible situation. Impromptu is your best assistant in such games. Let your child be not only a pedestrian, but also a driver on your toy road – act out a situation where a ball flies out onto the roadway, or a pedestrian crosses the road in the wrong place, on a red light, without looking around. Such a measure will help the child to more objectively assess the seriousness of the situation. Also, invite the child to fantasize a little and ask him to tell you what would happen if there were no traffic rules, and cars and pedestrians moved as they pleased. For example, what would happen if children crossed the road in the wrong place. The child should consolidate the theoretical information received with practical exercises. Moreover, parents do not need to buy any expensive disks or other teaching aids for this. The best practical exercises will be walking along the busiest routes of your city. Choose the road where there are a large number of pedestrian crossings and intersections, both regulated and unregulated. Discuss everything you see and make decisions together regarding street crossings and other nuances of traffic rules.
Rules for the carriage of a child in a car
Teaching children traffic rulesis very important and vital. However, parents should not forget that the child is also a passenger, requiring increased attention from adults. The little mischief-maker may be in for a variety of dangers in the car.
- Injury to the baby.
Most often, the child is in a hurry to be the first to take his placeplace in the car and gets in before adults. If there are more than two adults in the back seat of the car, there is always a risk that they will accidentally crush the child.
- Car doors.
In the same case, if the child is onin the back seat alone, another danger may await him - door locking, or rather, its absence in many models of cars, especially in older models. They are not equipped with an automatic door locking function, and the baby can open the car door on his own. It is not difficult to guess what this is fraught with - the child can fall right under the wheels of cars.
- Exit the car.
After stopping the car, the child who wasin the back seat and with the car door unlocked, he may also be in danger of being run over by passing cars if he decides to get out of the car first. But even if the car doors are locked automatically, there is always a risk of injury to the child in the car. Children's imagination is inexhaustible - they are capable of coming up with more and more new fantasies - opening windows, leaning out of them, making faces in the mirror at the most inopportune moment, for example, on a sharp turn, as a result of which a fall between the two front ones becomes almost inevitable.
Baby car seat
In order to avoid all of the abovetroubles in the car, the child must be transported in a specially designed child car seat. Seats are available in different sizes and models, depending on age and weight. Many parents neglect the need to purchase a child car seat, limiting themselves to simply fastening the baby with belts. However, most often, belts are not only useless in emergency situations, but can even make the situation worse. By the way, most developed European countries have adopted a bill according to which it is strictly forbidden to transport a child under 14 in a car without a child car seat. The safe behavior of children on the road largely depends on the personal example of their parents, so let's not expose the life of our child, and our own, to unnecessary risks. Observe traffic rules, teach your child to follow them, transport the baby only in a car seat specially designed for his age and weight category - and you will definitely succeed! The safety and life of your child by 90% depends on the adults around him, especially on his parents.
