Do not give learners a lift
Learners who hitchhike expose themselves to dangerous situations and parents are not aware that children rather save their transport money and hitchhike.
SIR John Adamson School principal, Michael Meyers, encourages learners from all schools in the South, to refrain from hitchhiking from one point to another in order to get home.
A group of learners from the South accepted a lift in a vehicle in November 2015 and unfortunately the vehicle was later involved in an accident, which saw the learners hospitalised. The learners missed their exam the following morning. Meyers wants parents to work together to prevent these kinds of unfortunate situations, from happening again.
According to Meyers, many learners deceive their parents into giving them transport money – which they use elsewhere and then depend on hitchhiking to get home. The principal fears that something terrible might happen to a learner who hitchhikes. Every year he writes letters to parents to encourage them, to make sure they’re aware of how their children travel from home to school every day.
“These learners already know my vehicle. They run as soon as they see me approach. I’m hoping that parents join in and all motorists refrain from offering lifts to these learners. I’ve seen learners jump on the back of moving bakkies and trucks. My biggest fear is a parent having to go to a school to inform a teacher or principal, that their child didn’t come back home yesterday,” Meyers said.
The COURIER has forged a partnership with the principal to discourage learners’ hitchhiking behaviour, as soon as the schools re-open every year.
Meyers encourages parents and anyone who can help, to join in and prevent learners from hitchhiking. The partnership will also discourage school transport drivers who overload their seats with learners just to maximise profit – and those drivers who play loud music in their vehicles while they drive learners to school, as it disrupts learners from learning early in the morning.
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