I saw the funniest thing today. I was driving by an elementary school in Richardson, Texas. They were letting the kids out of the school. And I look over and there is a crossing guard stationed to walk the kids across the exit of the little parking circle to the median of the parking lot. There, they walk to the other side of the median, where another crossing guard is stationed to lead them across the entrance to the parking lot. Where they can walk up to another crossing guard stationed on the street. Your public dollars at work. I hope they are teachers and not additional paid employees.
UPDATE: On second thought, I might have crossed over into what I think is probably Garland, Texas. It's so hard around here to tell which city you are in, sometimes.
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You can be pretty sure they are volunteers as there is a shortage of true crossing guards in Richardson. Some schools have been without a guard most of the year. And, boy, do we need guards as the way drivers ignore the speed limits, the lights, and the kids crossing the streets is terrible.
Come to think of it, it might have been in Garland, or whatever city is just to the east of Richardson on Campbell.
I think it's generally very difficult for kids to walk home in the Dallas area. I grew up in El Paso, and the residential areas were pretty well set off from big thoroughfares. You can go long distances without crossing a truly major street. That's obviously not the case here.
Nonetheless, I just find it odd that children wouldn't be trusted to cross a parking lot entrance. That wasn't the case when I was a child. It seems a bit overprotective. I have a friend with two step-daughters in school, and we lament the degree to which children are overprotected, and we worry about the degree to which that abnegates the development of individual responsibilily.
Of course, if I were a parent, maybe I would feel differently.
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