No matter if the day is dark, windy, cold, or wet, school crossing guards ensure the safety of students as they travel to and from school. When parents are surveyed about Safe Routes to School programs, the availability of adult crossing guards is invariably an important factor in determining whether or not to allow their children to walk to school.  Crossing guards serve as a visual alert to drivers about the presence of children. Through their example, crossing guards help children develop the skills necessary to cross streets safely. Protecting school children is rewarding, yet being a crossing guard can also be a risky and underappreciated job, as many roads around schools have high levels of traffic and impatient drivers.

 

Job Hazards
According to the Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund (MEL) of New Jersey, the position of school crossing guard has become one of the more dangerous occupations in municipal government. The insurance fund, which represents more than 60 percent of New Jersey’s municipalities, reported a 65 percent increase in crashes involving crossing guards between 1996 and 2006. According to New Jersey’s Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health, 13 adult crossing guards in New Jersey were killed when struck by motor vehicles while at work from 1993-2005. An additional 121 adult crossing guards suffered injuries

serious enough to require full days away from work as a result of motor vehicle-related crashes.

 

Crossing guards often encounter rude behavior from drivers. Joanne Alexander, a crossing guard in South River (Middlesex County), has been yelled and cursed at by motorists several times in her three years on the job. She admits that it can sometimes be hard to maintain composure; when, she reports, “drivers have said that they are going to come back and get me.” Joan Cadamatre, a crossing guard in Brick Township (Ocean County), has had similar experiences. “They think they can do whatever they want. They will yell at you,” Cadamatre said. “When that happens, I will ask them if they would behave so rudely if they had kids crossing the street. That usually gets to them.”

 

Crossing Guard Powers and Legislation

In the face of driver disrespect, crossing guards need procedures for fighting back against drivers who disregard the safety of school children. Under New Jersey law, adult school crossing guards fall under the jurisdiction of the local police department’s traffic control unit and are non-sworn employees without arrest powers. When cars don’t stop for Stanley, a crossing guard in New Brunswick, he flags down one of the police officers who patrol around the school and relates the information