The first step to safer, greener streets may be to observe what’s there and re-imagine what could be, but once kids can picture their fresh new world, why not take your curricula one step further and teach kids how to make change happen? Learning how the public can advocate for traffic lights, stop signs, and speed bumps can be an excellent introduction to civic engagement for young ones.
One program at Streets Education taught first graders at P.S. 87 how to assess the traffic safety of their neighborhood and then go after the traffic calming measures they thought would make their surrounding environment more enjoyable. They wrote their Commissioner letters requesting a new speed bump and might have one soon!
Empowering kids to be engaged citizens is one of the biggest steps we can take in shaping the next generation of environmental stewards.
[…] about traffic and transportation may have piqued your students’ interest in air pollution. Smog is every city […]