Safety Ambassadors of Mallya Aditi International School

Read on to see how Road Safety can be a very interesting way to engage school children in socially impactful activities and simultaneously develop leadership, creativity and soft skills. We believe it will have a lasting impression on our Safety Ambassadors!

Thanks to the initiative of the Mallya Aditi International School, we were invited to devise a 5-day program for 25 students of Std XII, as part of the SUPW curriculum. It was held from September 11 to 15, 2023. This program is unique in that it combines three key dimensions of Safety: Awareness, Advocacy and Action.

The Arundhati Foundation, QShala and PotholeRaja joined hands for this wonderful initiative.

SAFETY AWARENESS
The program began by sensitizing the students to understand the scale of the road safety problem in our country. They learnt about the statistics, the causes of crashes, the science behind safety principles, techniques and innovations. They were also sensitised about the mindset required to approach safety – Since every single life matters, our goal should be Towards Zero Fatalities. Over the 5 days, the children have internalised the various aspects, recognising their significance in road safety.

SAFETY ADVOCACY
These students now took it forward to become advocates of road safety principles through the StreetSmart Showcase. They developed various pathways to get the message across:

Skits :
They mixed fun with learning in developing skits to draw attention to safety when playing near roads, and the dangers of distracted driving, The first part of the skit depicted wrong behaviour that leads to a collision. Then a “replay” to show what could have been differently. This juxtaposition of unsafe and safe behaviour helped drive home the point effectively.

 

Quiz :

They framed engaging questions on
o the significance of road signs & colours
o the do’s and don’t’s for pedestrians
o safety in the darkness of the night
o the importance of seatbelts
o how thrills can be unsafe
o #1 cause of crashes – overspeeding.
o how airbags are the Supplemental Restraint System, not primary

The Safety Ambassadors made it a point to supplement the answers with additional visuals and information to reinforce the message.

Demos :
They staged experiments to demonstrate the principles behind road safety.

o How the traffic lights are a simple but effective mechanism to streamline traffic flow
o The egg-drop test cracked up the audience 😊. It showed the effectiveness of helmets.
o An experiment using mirrors was staged to demonstrate the blind spots of drivers and how it is important for pedestrians to understand this
o An experiment using Newton’s first law of motion demonstrated the reason why seat belts are important. Seeing the toy driver eject out of the seat even at slow speed is impactful.
o The principle of conservation of momentum and energy was used to demonstrate the relationship between speed and the degree of impact, and to show how keeping distance between cars helps alleviate the impact.
o A simple but effective exercise was devised to bust the myth of multitasking and demonstrate the risk related to distracted driving. This was further extended by a game that involved the entire audience. It’s interesting to see how people start off thinking they it will be easy, and soon realise it is much more difficult than they imagined – even when there are no hands involved!

Each exercise was devised to engage the audience. And in the wrap-up, the audience was asked for takeaways to reinforce the message.
The team staged the StreetSmart Showcase with three different groups of children. First, for the children of Std VIII from their own school. Then at the Kenny School, and finally at the Govt Model School Amruthahalli. In all, they covered over 170 students and their teachers.

At the Govt Model School, Amruthahalli, the Safety Ambassadors found that the students were not proficient in English. The team improvised on the spot, and a few of them who were better at Kannada along with Anagha from QShala ensured that the message reached the audience without missing anything.

Both, the students and the teachers were appreciative of the StreetSmart Showcase. They liked the different engaging and interactive methods to learn about road safety. The teachers also commented that this is very apt for the students.

SAFETY ACTION
On the ground action makes a big difference when people realise the scale of the problem, and the challenges of implementation. Donning safety jackets and gloves, the Safety Ambassadors got into action and implemented road improvements to make the school zones safer for the Kenny School and the Govt Model School, Amruthahalli.

• Installation of Road Signs:
The School Ahead, Speed bump ahead, Go Slow, T Junction were installed as required in those locations. Students riveted the signboards to the frames, dug the holes, mixed up the cement and poured it to secure the signposts, checking they were set right using the spirit level.

• Fixing Potholes:
They cleared up the potholes of debris and mud, filled it with gravel, then with the cold mix (bitumen), and did the tamping to compress the filling. Seeing their work, the residents of the area and other road users requested some additional potholes to be fixed, and the children gladly obliged!

• Installation of Cat’s Eyes:
They set up the cat’s eyes to make the speed breakers visible to the vehicles during day and night. They marked the locations on the street, placed the cat’s eyes after applying adhesive, and then drove the stud in the centre to fix it to the road.

The children erected 8 road signs, repaired 10 potholes, and affixed 150 cat’s eyes.
In these exercises, the children from Kenny School and Govt Model School, Amruthahalli, also joined in with great enthusiasm.

FUNDRAISE : MAKE THEIR LIVES SAFE & SOUND

The students took a step further to run a campaign and raised funds that will help children with severe hearing loss. It is the world that many children in India are born into, a world that isolates them. It is not easy for them to venture out because when the voices and sounds cannot be discerned, it becomes a safety hazard. It thus hampers their cognitive, social, emotional growth and affects their well-being.
The Safety Ambassadors raised Rs 87,001 to provide these children with the gift of sound! We will provide an update on the utilization of these funds for the Dhwani initiative of The Arundhati Foundation.

FEEDBACK FROM THE PARTICIPANTS
The Safety Ambassadors showed great heart all through this event. They shared their own takeway, what they liked and their suggestions to improve the program. Some of the comments come from their own personal journey, making them so much more meaningful.
What were the Takeaways?
• Road safety and rules are a topic which isn’t stressed enough in schools. It should be instilled in kids from a very young age
• Social Service is hard, but it made me happy
• Do not multitask while driving
• As I am about to turn 18 in a couple of months, I have understood the importance of road safety
• I learnt a lot about blind spots. Since I have to cross a main road that has a lot of school buses, I find this new knowledge very useful
• A change in attitude is required to make our roads safer.
• Use interesting + interactive means and activities to introduce topics and reinforce the message
• In the process of doing the quiz, I learnt a lot about road safety which I did not know before

What did they Like?
• Cooperation amongst all my friends, and also the govt school children
• I liked the teamwork. Public speaking and communication skills were improved
• After fixing potholes, I felt that our work could make someone’s journey a bit more comfortable
• I felt we helped the community by actually doing the work on the roads – fixing potholes, signposts, cat’s eyes
• I liked how we included the children of the govt school into our Showcase, and made sure that they were part of every activity
• I liked that we did both – fixed the roads, and educated the younger children on road safety
• I liked how well planned the itinerary was – each activity was creative and effective
• A very different experience with the activities on the road and the Showcase and a different takeaway about road safety
• I was able to improve my Kannada. I have never spoken to a large audience in Kannada before.

Any Suggestions?
• We could have a campaign entirely to fill potholes on each day in various localities
• We could have done more road work in different areas
• Spend more time with the govt school kids – jointly work with them for the Showcase
• A Kannada version of the showcase will connect better with the audience
• We could have replaced the quiz with skits – the English was tough for one of the schools

THANK YOU!

Thanks to Mallya Aditi International School and Mrs. Priti Rao for taking the initiative, and refining the structure and flow of the program. She was also instrumental in setting up the connections with the two schools which made this program so much more effective. Thanks to all the teachers of Mallya Aditi International School who helped to oversee the students.

Our sincere thanks to Mr. Surya Narayan, Principal, and Mr Prasanna of the Govt Model School, Amruthahalli and also Mr Sujit of Kenny School for the whole hearted participation. Their students made a huge difference with their enthusiasm.

As always, our partners QShala and the team of Anagha, Shilpa and Durga were superb in coaching the students to effectively convey the message along with the quizzes and skits and experiments; and how to link it all together. They know how to work with children. Plus, their preparations helped in smoothing the logistics at the time of the event in the two schools.
Surya from PotholeRaja was simply superb. He handled everything for the road improvements : from doing the recce, getting the materials and fabrication in place, getting the permissions, guiding and supervising the students. He ensured the success of the Safety Action.

Thanks also to Vaibhav Mandania of Ketto who helped set up the fundraise via Ketto. He was patient with the many changes we requested to get to the final version. The platform also made it easy for all the participants.

It will be amiss if we do not acknowledge the guidance from Kiran George of U&I whose suggestions helped us in creating the campaign and follow through.

And a big thank you to the students – our Safety Ambassadors – who carried this through so well. We wish them all the best for their future, and urge them to always have a positive mindset about safety, leading to positive attitude, positive behaviour and positive action so they handle difficult situations with courage and calmness.

The program reinforces our belief that adding safety in the school curriculum will go a long way. And we hope that other schools follow the lead of MAIS.

PICTURES
Here are some pics from the events