When Mansfield Police Officer Frend C. Boals and Mrs. Ruth Robbins-Idle initiated the Safety Town Program in 1937, their intent was to provide traffic safety information to the city’s pre-school age children.

In the years since, this nationally recognized program has been copied by communities in every state of the nation. Mansfield Safety Town has continued to change with the times and now includes other types of safety training, drug abuse and poison prevention, and the promotion of good citizenship for children ages four to six. The program is supported by local businesses and schools, taught by trained instructors and administrated by the Mansfield Police Department. Safety Town is an excellent example of how the Mansfield community provides direction to young children through the use of innovative, inexpensive programs entirely independent of state and federal funds.

PURPOSE AND GOALS OF SAFETY TOWN

While pedestrian and traffic safety continue to be emphasized in the Mansfield Safety Town Program, other important lessons for pre-school-aged children have been incorporated as well.  The intent is to provide a well-rounded safety “primer” for these children regarding dangers present in everyday situations and to foster a spirit of good citizenship and etiquette at an early age.

The Mansfield Safety Town Program runs three two-week sessions every summer.  Instructors begin each session with the basics of pedestrian and motorist safety by introducing vocabulary words that children will use in learning about safety (sidewalk, crosswalk, corner, street, curb, driveway, pedestrian and motorist); teaching the meaning of traffic light colors (red, yellow, green); and distinguishing between the left and right hands.  Students are taught the importance of being able to state their name, address and telephone number.  Classroom exercises and songs help to reinforce their knowledge.

Email: Mansfield Police Department