One Teacher to Another

We are all teachers.  With every action we take, we are teaching children how they should behave.  

We live in the city of San Francisco.  We walk downtown, we take the bus, and we drive in the city sometimes.  It's the holiday weekend and there are children on every street corner with an adult or sometimes with just another teen.  

As I was walking to work in the financial district today, I watched a woman get off the bus, and step into the street to cross on a red light.  There were kids standing on the corner watching her, clearly getting the message that it is okay to step into the street on a red light.  This was definitely a teaching moment, a moment that can change a child's life forever; that moment when they can't make a judgment call about how fast a car is approaching, or whether the driver is paying attention and will notice them in the street, or if someone will come around the corner and mow them down.  We owe it to our children to ensure they understand that adults who step out into the street on a red light are not leaders, and especially not leaders worth following.  

Luis was hit by a car 18 months ago.  He was in the crosswalk, on a green light, he was not distracted by anything.  Witnesses tell me he was doing everything correctly.  There is nothing more I could have taught him about being safe in the situation where a driver just mows through the crosswalk occupied by a child crossing the street.

It's difficult enough to prepare a child to be alone on the streets.  It's even more difficult to constantly be reminded just how many teachers are setting poor examples that need explaining. 

So the next time you are stepping into that street on a red light, or trying your best to use every known four letter cuss word as many times as possible in a conversation on the bus, or dropping your trash on the sidewalk, or pushing ahead in line, or any number of things that might possibly have bothered you when someone else was doing them, look around before doing so and see just who is watching you.