NEW DELHI: At 7.30 am sharp, 13 students position themselves in groups of three or four in and around their school in Faridabad to check if fellow students are wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle and following traffic safety rules. They call themselves Traffic Team.
“Only a small percentage of our school students do not wear a helmet. We make sure that every student who is coming to school on a bicycle wears it and follows the traffic rules. If they don’t, we request them to do so. We are doing this for the safety of our fellow students,” said Sagar Arya, joint secretary of the team and a Class 9 student of Jiva Public School.
The initiative of the students has gained popularity over the years in the neighbourhood, as the awareness programme they are carrying out is not limited to their fellow students and covers the parents as well.
“We also update parents on traffic rules through storytelling as they are part of the society and further educate other parents. It is necessary for the parents to be aware, too,” said Diksha Sharma, a Class 9 student and secretary of the team.
On the first and third Saturday of every month, they have activities for parents. “It’s in human nature. If not appreciated, the person may stop doing the right thing.”
The goal of the students’ collective is to make as many people as possible follow traffic rules and minimise the risk to their life and limb while on the road.
“Groups at every checkpoint do the monitoring and prepare a list of defaulters. The names are announced in the morning assembly to make sure the students start coming to school wearing helmets,” said Utkarsh Sharma, a Class 9 student and leader of the team.
Diksha Chandila and Insha Ram, Class 7 students and the youngest in the team, who often end their day educating their parents about the rules, say they “feel proud” to be a part of the initiative.