Lincoln Northeast High School is praised for being a safe school, but are our streets missing the safety as well? About 1,500 kids attend Northeast and many of them walk to school each morning and home after school. With the main doors being on North 63rd Street, many students tend to cross it to get to school or home. That is also where most of the traffic seems to flow. With the recent accidents that have occurred on the street, many are wondering, would a crosswalk guard be helpful for our safety?
There was a recent incident in December involving a freshman being sent to the hospital that occurred on North 63rd Street. After, many kids and parents were worried about the safety of the street. Many students began to be more careful, while others just continued on their path of risky behavior.
The student who was involved in the car incident on North 63rd Street of last year was Jace Niederhaus. The freshman that still occasionally crosses the same street where the mishap occurred.
When Jace was asked if LNE should institute crosswalk guards, he replied with, “Yes, the school should have crosswalk guards because then there would be less tragic car accidents.”
Freshman Secilia Carver, who also crosses the street, agreed saying, “There should be crosswalk guards because parents would feel better having their child walking to or from school without being constantly worried.”
How would Lincoln Northeast institute a crosswalk guard? According to Orange County Sheriff’s Office their requirements for a school crossing guard are: must be a U.S. citizen, must be at least 18 years old, a clean criminal record, a high school diploma and more. With a crosswalk guard working the street before and after school, the chance for any accidents would go down dramatically. Maybe one day in the future here at LNE, there will be a crosswalk guard managing the streets.