Lynn schools guide students across the street

By Thor JourgensenItem StaffLYNN – Alarmed by near-misses and inattentive students, public school administrators are launching a street crossing safety campaign with help from the Lynn Business Education Foundation.The education effort will be aimed at the 7,900 public school students attending elementary schools, but middle school students will not be excluded from the safety campaign. Latham noted many students walk to and from school and their homes.?I don?t understand why we don?t have more accidents,” Latham said.A video featuring young students and a cartoon character will zero in on the basics of safe street crossing: Stopping at a curb or street edge and looking left, right and left again before crossing.Foundation Executive Director and former Lynn educator Frederick Cole called crossing safety “a major issue in the city” and said Lynn?s younger residents need a refresher course in pedestrian alertness.?You see kids texting and walking and not even looking as they cross and ignoring crosswalks,” Cole said.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website states that 69,000 pedestrians were injured in the United States in 2011 – 11,000 under the age of 15.A 16-year-old Classical High School student suffered a broken leg last September as he crossed O?Callaghan Way. Police initially stated the driver indicated “sun glare obscured his vision” and stated that witnesses reported the teenager was not in a crosswalk.The accident prompted Classical Principal Gene Constantino to prepare several reminders for students to take care crossing busy O?Callaghan Way. Classical, Breed Middle School and Callahan School are located on the street and drivers crowd O?Callaghan before and after school dropping off and picking up students.Callahan School crossing guard William Boudreau was treated in September, 2013 for head and other injuries after a driver struck him at 7:49 a.m.Cole said the Foundation anticipates Latham will update members in May about school safety training plans and the Foundation will vote to approve spending money to help pay for the program.?We told her, ?Let?s see if we can do anything.? You have to start at the elementary level,” he said.