Hamilton's Safety Town wraps up its 50th year of mentoring young kids on safety issues
Hamilton's Safety Town is wrapping up its 50th year of mentoring young kids in various areas of safety and "stranger danger."
The program was designed to help teach 4 and 5-year-olds deal with gun, vehicle, household, street, school bus and fire safety, as well as lessons on dealing with strangers according police officer Kristy Collins, who has been leading it for the past 10 years.
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"I teach safety tips about stranger danger, when and how to call 911, gun safety, learning how to cross the street, among other things," Collins told The Enquirer.
Safety Town draws children not only from Hamilton, but also from all over Butler County.
"We usually have approximately 36 kids per week and it runs 5 weeks," Collins explained.
She said kids learn about policing and what police do and they get to lean about how law enforcement works. And of course, they get to see the police car.
"They also get 'fire day' where they learn about fire safety and they get to go through the smoke house and learn other fire safety tips," Collins said. "From there, they drive the kett safety pedal cars and learn how to put into motion what I teach them, stopping at the stop signs, traffic lights, etc."
Kids also practice calling 911 on a phone and learn what an emergency is and what is not, she added.
"The kids have a day where they learn good versus bad," Collins said. "This will be things around the house like prescription drugs for example, not to touch a prescription bottle etc."
Collins says the program expands on safety tips like "stranger danger."
"We go into strangers, but cover strangers on the internet. The fire department also comes out and brings a squad and they cover first aid with the kids."
There is also a bicycle rodeo training that follows the Safety Town program. The bicycle rodeo program is for 6-8 year olds and runs for two weeks, broken down into two one week sessions.
According to the National Safety Town Center, in 1937 the initiative was founded in Mansfield, Ohio, by policeman Frend Boals and expanded into a comprehensive safety education program by Bedford, Ohio, nursery school teacher Dorothy Chlad in1964.
The Hamilton program was one of the first developed in the nation.
The program is sponsored by the Hamilton Community Foundation, Greater Hamilton Safety Council and funded by the Lindenwald Kiwanis, City of Hamilton and the Officer Bob Gentry Memorial Fund Committee.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Hamilton's Safety Town wraps up its 50th year of mentoring young kids
