safety, in which the Bureau takes a leading part, has been given annually in the Colorado School of Mines since 1930. Students taking courses in mining, metallurgical, and petroleum subjects are trained in first aid, mine rescue, and safety as applied to most of the dayto-day operations in coal and metal mining and in the petroleum industry, emphasis being placed on hazards peculiar to these industries. It is expected that this plan will be adopted by many of the mining schools in the United States.

SCHOOL-BOY PATROLS

One of the most effective methods of developing the spirit of safety in future miners is to inaugurate a school-boy patrol system in the schools of mining districts. The boys assigned to patrol duty will form the habit of looking out for the safety of others as well as themselves. An immediate benefit will result, as accidents among school children will decrease markedly; such has been the experience of the American Automobile Association, which has assisted in organizing school-boy patrols in more than 3,000 cities and towns.

The result in Washington, D. C., the headquarters of this association, was a decrease in fatal accidents. The patrol system was inaugurated here late in 1926. During the calendar year 1926 there were 15 accidental deaths among children between the ages of 5 and 15 years. The average school registration was then approximately 71,000. In 1929, with a school registration of about 85,000, there were 10 accidental deaths of children in the same age group, the only one in which accidental deaths decreased; in 1933, with a registration of 92,355, there were 10 accidental deaths; among persons between the ages of 16 and 21 there were 17 accidental deaths in 1926 and 22 deaths in 1929. This group includes some students, but it is not generally controlled by school-boy safety patrols.

A few years ago a joint committee of the American Atuomobile Association, the National Safety Council, and the National Congress of Parents and Teachers formulated the following standard rules for operating school-boy safety patrols.

STANDARD RULES FOR OPERATING SCHOOL-BOY PATROLS

1. Function. The function of the school-boy patrol is to instruct, direct, and control the members of the student body in crossing the streets at or near schools. Patrols should not be charged with the responsibility of directing vehicular traffic, nor be allowed to do so, other than signaling to a motorist who approaches the crossing after the student pedestrians have left the curb. NOTE-Patrols need not and should not, therefore, be recognized by city ordinance. They must not be termed "police" nor organized as such. When a patrol member raises his hand to warn a motorist approaching a group of children who are crossing the street, he is not directing or controlling the motorist but merely calling his attention to his obligation under the law to respect the rights and safety of pedestrians at crosswalks.

An important function of school-boy patrols is to instruct the school children in safe practices in their use of the streets at all times and places.

2. Selection.-Patrol members should ordinarily be appointed either by the principal or by the officers and faculty adviser of the authorized student organization. These members are ordinarily boys, but girls may be appointed in certain cases. They should be selected from the seventh and eighth grades, or from the sixth grade if that is the highest in the school. Patrol members should be selected for leadership and reliability. Their service should be volun.

tary and approved by parent or guardian. Officers should serve for at least one school term; other members may be changed at intervals of about 6 weeks. Any officer or member should be removed for cause.

3. Size and officers.-The size of the patrol varies with street conditions and size of school. The average patrol has 10 to 12 members including officers. Every patrol should have a captain. Lieutenants and sometimes sergeants may also be appointed.

4. Instruction and supervision. These are essential if the patrol is to be efficient and permanent. In general, the best results have been obtained where the patrols operate under immediate instruction and supervision of police offi cers, detailed for that purpose and acting under general supervision of the school authority and the sponsoring body which may be the motor club, safety council, or other civic body. New members of the patrol should, where practicable, serve with and under the guidance of experienced members for at least a week.

5. Insignia. -The standard insignia for patrol members is the white Sam Browne belt made of 2-inch material. This must be worn at all times while on duty. Special badges for officers may be worn on the left breast or left arm. Auxiliary equipment, if any, should be standard throughout the community.

NOTE. If local bodies or individuals wish to encourage the patrols by furnishing raincoats or slickers, or any other additional equipment, this should be done in consultation with the sponsoring body. In general, black raincoats are to be preferred, the white belt being worn over the coat.

6. Flags and whistles.-Patrol members while on duty shall not have in their possession any signs, signals, flags, sticks, or whistles.

NOTE.-Whistles have no place in the type of patrol here outlined. Flags of small size have been successfully used in some cities to control and direct the children, but the use of them is generally objected to because of the danger that it will lead both the patrol boy and the motorist to feel that the former is controlling traffic.

7. Position and procedure. The patrol member should stand on the curb, not in the street, and hold back the children until he sees a lull in traffic. When this occurs, he motions for the children to cross the street in a group. He still keeps his position on the curb, except that if his view of traffic is obstructed by parked cars or otherwise, he may step into the street a sufficient distance to obtain a clear view, but not more than three paces; after the children have crossed, he returns to his station on the curb.

Where the street is wide or the traffic heavy, there should be two patrol boys at the crossing. One operates as described in the preceding paragraph, on the side from which the children are coming. The other operates similarly on the opposite curb, giving attention to possible traffic approaching on that side and assisting the group of children to reach that curb in safety.

NOTE. This practice is recommended in preference to having the patrol boy escort the group of children across the street.

8. Hours on duty. The patrol members should reach their posts 10 or 15 minutes before the opening of school in the morning and at noon and should remain until after the last bell. At noon and afternoon dismissal they leave their classes 2 or 3 minutes before the dismissal bell and remain on duty for 10 or 15 minutes while children are leaving. If any classes are dismissed earlier than the others, it is essential that patrols be on duty at all times while children are crossing the streets.

NOTE. From the standpoint of safety and of efficient patrol operation, therefore, it is preferable that all classes be dismissed at the same time. If not, the size of the patrol should be increased and the groups rotated so, that no one member will be absent too long from his class.

9. Relation to police officers.-At intersections when traffic is controlled by an officer or a traffic signal or both, the patrols will direct the crossing of the children in conformity with the directions of the signal or the officer.

At intersections without regular traffic control, the traffic may be sufficiently heavy to require the special assignment of a police officer at the times when children are going to or from school. When this is done, it is recommended that the police officer should not stand in the intersection but at the curb and. when a group of children has been collected, escort them across the street, stopping vehicular traffic for this purpose if necessary. The function of the patrol

boys is then to hold the children at the curb until the police officer is ready to take them across.

VALUE OF PATROLS IN MINING DISTRICTS

The value of school-boy patrols in mining districts is apparent : (1) They simulate the basic plan of mine safety. Mine safety engineers realize the need for an actively functioning safety organization to reduce mine accidents. The mine safety organization of safety engineers, superintendents, mine foremen or mining captains, assistant foremen or shift bosses, safety inspectors, and committees of miners is the prototype of the school patrol in mining districts. The members of the patrol correspond to the supervisory staff at mines. They learn to take orders, to watch for danger, to direct others in safe living or working, and to think safety at all times.

(2) The patrol stresses two important points that are essential to mine safety instruction and supervision. The children are cautioned not to run off the curb into the street without looking_analogous to instruction in safety on haulage roads in mines. They are also taught to wait at crossings until the member of the patrol indicates that it is safe to cross-analogous to the mine practice of traveling only in manways and stopping to see if the road is clear when the manway crosses a haulage road or if a ladderway terminates on a haulage level. In addition to instruction, the system demonstrates the value of supervision, one of the most important phases of mine safety. When the boys are grown and start to work in the mines they are safety-minded to a certain extent, are receptive of instruction, and are amenable to supervision. Their minds are trained to accept safety, and they probably will assimilate safety regulations more quickly.

SAFETY ORGANIZATION IN SCHOOLS

To be most effective safety education in schools should include not only curricular study but also extracurricular activities. As the teaching of safety by instructors is controlled by an organized group, the extracurricular activities should be correlated and controlled by an organization that may be separate and distinct or a unit of an existing organization. In general, the inclusive organization should comprise a student-faculty committee and junior safety patrols and councils.

STUDENT-FACULTY COMMITTEE

The students should assume responsibility for school safety, but faculty guidance is essential. Probably the best method of directing safety activities and yet impressing upon the students their responsibility is to appoint a committee of students-probably the executive committee of the junior safety council-and faculty members to supervise extracurricular safety activities. The student members may be appointed by the principal or elected by the students.

The student-faculty committee corresponds to the safety committee at mines; these committees usually comprise representatives of the

workmen and the supervisory force that more or less governs the safety activities at the mine and reports to the larger organization. A similar school safety committee prepares the children for active participation in safety councils when they leave school and enter the mines or other industries.

JUNIOR SAFETY COUNCIL

Student safety activities should be controlled by a student governing body, generally known as the junior safety council. The organization and functioning of such a council has been highly developed in northeastern Minnesota.

MINNESOTA SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS

The schools of the iron ranges of Minnesota have long been leaders in safety education in that State. In 1928 a safety congress of school leaders was held at Duluth, and a council was chosen to conduct a State-wide safety movement. Concentrated effort was made to introduce into every school district a uniform system for reporting accidents. The system recommended is simple and inexpensive, exposes the danger spots, and emphasizes the need for safety training. It exerts a psychological influence and benefits both teachers and pupils by arousing an interest that leads to wholesome competition between schoolrooms. The system has been in force in the northeastern Minnesota district since 1928; this district includes the city of Duluth and St. Louis, Cook, and Itasca Counties. The Mesabi and Vermilion iron ranges lie wholly in St. Louis and Itasca Counties.

The safety organization of the Gilbert (Minn.) schools and the surrounding towns is called the Independent School District 18 Safety Council. Stationery listing officers in the various schools is used for all safety correspondence, and a supply is given to all the officers for personal use. The safety organization is affiliated with the National Safety Council.

The following outline was used in drawing up the constitution, general code, specific code, and specific regulations for streets and playgrounds:

SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR STUDENT SAFETY-COUNCIL ORGANIZATION IN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 18

CONSTITUTION

Article 1.-Name.-The name of this organization shall be the "Student Safety Council" of Independent School District No. 18, Gilbert, Minn.

Article 2.-Object.-The object of this organization shall be to help the pupils of Independent School District No. 18 in the prevention of accidents and dangerous practices by making attractive the idea of thoughtfulness for others and proper care of their own actions.

Article 3.-Membership.-There shall be two classes of membership, active and associate: (a) Active membership shall consist of one representative from each home room, elected semiannually by the pupils of the room; (b) associate membership shall be open to any other pupil who may give to the council adequate proof that he lives up to the rules as hereinafter provided for. Members should be required to fulfill the requirements anew each year before being admitted to associate membership.

Article 4.-The principal of each building shall act as adviser for each student safety council.

Article 5.—Officers.—(a) Officers shall consist of president, vice president, secretary, and such captains of patrols as the council may deem necessary.

(b) The first three of these officers shall be elected semiannually by the council from the list of active members.

(c) The captain of patrol shall be appointed by the president of the council in cooperation with the principal.

(d) Elections shall be held semiannually, the first in September and the second in February.

Article 6.-Membership requirements.—Any pupil may be admitted to associate membership when he has:

(a) Learned the safety pledge.

(b) Reported in writing at least two unsafe conditions in the neighborhood. Article 7.-Admission.-Associate membership should be the goal of every student in the school. Candidates for such membership shall appear before an open meeting of the council and present proof of their fitness for membership. They may be admitted upon two-thirds vote of the members present. The principal of the school reserves the right of decision in case of questionable proof. Article 8.-Insignia.—(a) Active members shall be provided with a juniorsafety-council button by the student safety council of the school district.

(b) These buttons may be worn at all times and shall constitute a badge of authority among the children of the school in regard to warnings against unsafe practices. Each member is responsible for his button and is not provided with another in case of loss except in payment of its cost.

(c) Associate members shall be supplied with associate-membership buttons by the safety department of the school district.

(d) Active members or associate members may have their buttons taken away from them for violation of any part of the safety code or pledge, after a trial before two-thirds of the active members.

Article 9.-Patrols.-(a) Members of the patrol shall be appointed by the captain with approval of the president and the principal and shall be either active or associate members of the council.

(b) Duties of members of the traffic patrol shall be: To guard dangerous street crossings (standing on the curb and not in the street) and report violations of the safety rules; to assist younger children; to warn all children of danger; to give Stop and Go signals to pupils crossing the street; to see that pupils keep within the pedestrian lanes at intersections; to assist the principal in the building and on the playgrounds.

(c) Duties of health patrol: It should be the duty of the health patrol to look out for and report violations of the following:

1. Cleanliness of persons-hands, face, neck, ears, and teeth.

2. Cleanliness of clothing-outer and underclothing.

3. Suitable wearing apparel.

a. Sweaters should not be worn in a schoolroom over a blouse or other outer garment.

b. Heavy rubbers worn over many pairs of stockings are not necessary in steam-heated buildings.

4. Ventilation:

a. Help to provide good air at all times.

b. A room temperature of 68° is best suited to classroom work. (d) The duties of the safety news and publicity patrol shall be: To gather material showing how accidents happen, for the benefit of the pupils. To have charge of slogans to be placed on blackboards, to place material on bulletin boards and to prepare the safety column for the "Orange and Black.” (e) The membership patrol shall receive applications for associate memberships, shall give the necessary examination to applicants, and shall recommend applicants to the council for membership.

(f) Patrols must be willing to do any patrol duty assigned; must be obedient to all safety rules; must be prompt at post of duty; must be impartial in reporting violators; ever ready to report hazards about the school buildings