This school is educating parents (and drivers) on basic road courtesy

We’ve all had those moments when we flip off drivers who cut us off, blow our horns aggressively at cars who selfishly occupy two lanes, and swear silently to ourselves whenever someone holds up the flow of traffic. While it’s awfully easy to criticize and complain about others who are a nuisance on the road, rarely do we take the time to reflect on our own driving behavior.

But have we fallen so far back in terms of common courtesy on the road that we need someone else reminding us of basic road etiquette? Well, it seems so.

Saint Pedro Poveda School, more commonly referred to as Poveda, has taken the growing traffic problems into their own hands, recently putting up signs along their drop-off points that read:

• Wake up child
• Kiss mommy/daddy goodbye
• Get stuff
• Get off

A photo of the signs was shared by @foxrots on Twitter last Jun. 26. The tweet has since gone viral with over 2,000 retweets and 18,000 likes. The user does not take credit for the image, however, explaining in a comment that the photo was sent to her by a friend, @iracruz on Twitter, and adding that he actually has to “live with this craziness every day.”

Vehicles holding up the line is a common occurrence at drop off points, regardless of whether you’re going to a mall or church. But schools, and elementary levels in particular, are quite notorious for the influx of traffic they cause at a given time: kids with bulky stroller bags being assisted by their parents or guardians out of the car, sometimes even waiting until they see their child enter the school gates before driving off.

If one car were to take more time than necessary to go through this daily routine, it’d imminently delay the next few vehicles. But if several drivers, parents, and kids were guilty of delay, traffic would undoubtedly accumulate, perhaps exponentially.

Kids are bound to doze off on the commute to school every once in a while. Doting parents would probably hate to spoil their rest and wait until the very last minute to wake them up. But it takes time for them to fully regain awareness, and what kind of parent would want to drop off their kids at the school gates while they’re half-asleep and barely aware of what’s happening, right?

As much as everyone would like to be patient and understanding about the situation, they’ve got kids to drop off, and the entire scenario could be avoided altogether if parents were courteous enough to wake their kids up in advance, instruct their kids to get ready, and send them off swiftly. It’s not a difficult concept to understand, but I suppose common sense (and courtesy) isn’t as common as we’d like to think.

What are your thoughts on Poveda’s drop off signs? Share them with us in the comments.

Image from @foxrots on Twitter.

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