Hazard Mapping at Prakriya Green Wisdom School

Sep 24, Prakriya Green Wisdom School.

Towards the end of 2018, I had penned some thoughts on structuring a curriculum for safety. This was geared towards students of std 4 through 9. The content was tailored for each group. The idea was also to increase the level of engagement as the children grow up. These ideas have been shared with some schools and also the board of education.

For the children of Std 4 and 5, we conceived a workshop called “Hazard Mapping”. 20 different posters have been created across 5 themes : Crossing the Road, Children at Play, Riding 2 wheelers, In 4 Wheelers, and Travel by Bus. The picture above shows 4 such posters that were used.

Prakriya has been the first school to respond to our request. We had 100 children across std 4 and 5 who participated in this workshop. At the beginning, they voiced their fears about the road : too much traffic, fast-moving vehicles. In groups of 5, the children observed the pictures, and noted both the safe and the risky behaviour they saw. We called them up to share their observations. Some videos were inserted to break the monotony and also to drive home some messages :
* distracted walking
* how does a helmet help?
* how does a seat belt help ?

Towards the end, we did a small exercise “Can We Really MultiTask?”.
[ Those interested can refer the YouTube video The Myth of Multitasking Test ]

One of the teachers – Ms Amutha – volunteered. This exercise engages the eyes, the hand, and the brain, and while it is not a true representation of the challenges of driving distracted, it is a good way to illustrate. At the end of the exercise, it was obvious that the attempt to multitask took much longer and thus, is not effective. Ms Amutha mentioned that she got mixed up a couple of times in the process.

For my next sessions, I want to do the exercise in the middle of a phone call. It will be interesting!

Overall, the workshop was well received. The interactive and fun element is meant to reinforce the values of safety, and we achieved this. The children were engaged all through. There were a few areas which required help
* blind spots when walking, when driving, when playing.
* the effects of overloading
* The dangers of distracting the driver were also emphasised.

We also tried to drive home the point that while the children may not be driving themselves, they can influence the adults – their parents, their driver, etc – who may engage in unsafe behaviour.

It was quite striking that, for most part, the children’s observations were spot on! It made us wonder when, where and why do the children lose this sense of safe vs risky behaviour as they grow up.

A big Thank You to the teachers – Pranjal, Reshmi and Aparna – who helped us organise this event.

We received this feedback from one of the teachers
“I found it very relevant for the kids. As they are learning to explore outside on their own, this is a good time to make them aware of the rules as well. When they started with their own story of losing a child, it became very real to the kids. The way they divided the children into groups and then brought them together was also very engaging. I think the children mostly understood what was being told”