With millions of cars on the road and additional roads being built, teaching your child about road safety is even more important than ever before. Instilling the concept of road safety and road confidence at a young age is crucial to your child’s growth and development. Right from the start, your child needs to understand basic concepts such as “Stop”, “Right”, “Left” and “Look”, failing which will put your child in harm’s way as he/she grows older. Most children are taught the basic rules of road safety; it’s up to the parents to ensure that their child actively adheres and practices the same.
According to a study that we conducted, it was found that 16% of the children had no sense of direction and never took following road safety seriously, whereas the remaining 84% of the children aged 3-6 years followed the rules of road safety. They not only understood the concept of direction and road safety but also practised them.
Understanding that one must respond to things out loud when asked a question about direction, helps a child understand the importance of being safe. This is especially true in case of road safety where it is extremely important to understand the directions while crossing the road.
When your child understands road safety:
- First and foremost, your child is safe
- Your child’s emotional and mental quotients develop as they have confidence in their ability to follow instructions, making them more independent
- Your child’s sense of direction will also help him/her grasp many academic concepts as well as help him/her understand the visual-spatial concepts
When your child does not understand direction:
- Parents will have to ensure that their child is constantly looked after to ensure their safety
- Your child develops dependency and might need constant attention and mollycoddling
Here’s what you can do to help your child:
Move around the room and ask your kid to guess in which direction certain objects have been placed at home. Locating objects and knowing where objects are located helps in the visual-spatial development of your child. This will also provide you insights on your child’s understanding of direction, rules and colours in a safe environment.
Download the Mai app to improve your child’s understanding of safety and also assess your child’s skill in the concept of directions.