School Crossing Guard Job Description

School Traffic Safety Team in New Zealand

In New Zealand, a school crossing patrol, officially called a School Traffic Safety Team, was first introduced in 1931 and has been acknowledged in New Zealand legislation since 1944. Students are trained by the New Zealand Police each year to run the patrols, with students in charge of the patrols. Around 950 school patrols are in operation.

The crossing guard service in Switzerland is provided by traffic cadets. Cadets in canton are equipped with different uniforms and a ranking structure. The crossing guards have no arrest powers, and they only forward the license plate numbers and other information to the local law enforcement, who decide what to do with that information.

School bus drivers can observe motorists disobeying the bus stop arm or flashing lights when children are on the bus. Several countries have unique signs that are used by crossing guards to stop traffic. The crossing guards in Canadand the US use a smaller version of the octagonal stop sign.

No Excuses Road Safety Guide for Schools

The first step in addressing school safety concerns is establishing a SafeST Committee. The SafeST Committee will develop a school road safety action plan. The School crossing supervisor scheme is a program that was introduced to reduce the risk of death and injuries to children attending schools.

The school crossing supervisor is supposed to help children cross the road safely to and from school. The No Excuses road safety guide is available for schools to use to improve the safety of their children on the road. The guide can be used to highlight the most common road safety issues and to give schools the power to take practical and tangible actions.

School Crossing Guards

Ensuring that children who walk or cycle to school cross the street safely is an important function of a school crossing guard. Candidates are expected to serve their community while earning extra income as a school crossing guard. School crossing guards are hired part-time or full-time during the school year and are placed at high-frequency intersection.

They work 25 hours per week, including summers or school holidays. The times for school are from 7 am to 9:30 am and from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm. With the population of school children increasing, crossing guards will be required to work across new schools.

School crossing guards are needed for directing traffic in areas close to school zones when roads are reconstructed or refinished. Local government agencies in charge of school construction, law enforcement agencies, traffic engineering departments, individual schools or school districts, and other local communities are some of the major employers of school crossing guards. The school crossing is usually assigned to a guard within the confines of the resident precinct.

School crossing guards are mostly learning their skills on the job, with new guards working with experienced guards for a few days to get a feel for the day-to-day duties. Candidates must pass a medical examination and character investigation to be considered. Bad weather, heavy traffic and so on make it necessary for one to be able to work in adverse conditions.

It is important to have hearing, vision and mobility. There are some police departments that offer adult school crossing guard training. Training covers topics like traffic laws, school zone signs, traffic signals and signs, crossing procedures, traffic hazard and professional responsibilities.

How to Train a Crossing Guard

You now have the power to enforce the law as a crossing guard. You are not a policeman. You can't do much when someone ignores your orders.

If the car didn't have lights on or the horn, you can stop it. In such a case, the ambulance should respect your orders as a crossing guard. There aren't many applicants for a crossing guard position.

They hope you will stay if they hire you. The longer you do the job the better you get in reacting to all kinds of situations that are close to a pedestrian crossing. Make sure the interviewers know that you have no plans to quit soon.

If the school is operational and the children cross the street, you can have the job. You know that some of them may be in a rush. They hurry to work, watch a football match, or meet their mistress.

You don't care. You will protect the pedestrians. Drivers have to wait for people to cross the road.

Adult School Crossing Guards: Employment Opportunities and Qualification

An adult school crossing guard can be either a paid employee or a volunteer. An employer has the ability to discipline an employee and pay them well. Prospective guards should be tested for physical and criminal background.

A guard should have good vision, hearing and mobility, be able to stand for long periods of time outdoors, and communicate well with others. The office of the North Carolina Attorney General says that school crossing guards may be considered traffic control officers if they are trained properly. The North Carolina Department of Transportation's Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation developed a program to train local law enforcement officers who are responsible for training adult school crossing guards.