Japanese ICMIF member Zenkyoren (National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives) has produced a Traffic Safety Education DVD which it will donate to primary schools, special support education schools, police stations, municipal Boards of Education and local governments throughout Japan to enable the continued provision of traffic safety education during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cooperative insurer Zenkyoren is engaged in a variety of prevention activities, including the prevention of traffic accidents and the support of victims of such accidents if they do occur. The aim for Zenkyoren is to create a society free from traffic accidents.
The Covid-19 pandemic and its associate restrictions on social contact have meant that traffic safety guidance sessions which are normally conducted every year by outside experts such as the police have had to be restricted in educational fields including primary schools and Zenkyoren believes that traffic safety education has not been provided sufficiently. Therefore, Zenkyoren produced a traffic safety education DVD which it is donating to compulsory educational schools such as primary schools, special support education schools, police stations, municipal boards of education and local governments nationwide.
When children reach primary school age, they have more opportunities to go out with other children and the range of their activities becomes wider such as riding bicycles. Therefore, it is important to have traffic safety education that conveys the correct traffic rules and courtesies in a way that is suited to children’s various stages of development.
The Traffic Safety Education DVD that Zenkyoren has produced this time is designed to enable children to learn traffic safety in an enjoyable way according to the stage of development of the children. The DVD offers information in three parts: “Basic Edition” for learning traffic rules for walking and basic rules for riding bicycles; “Development Edition” for learning rules and manners for riding bicycles safely; and “Parent Edition” for showing parents the importance of traffic safety education in the family.
The DVD videos contain navigator characters who encourage children to do active learning. Through quiz games introduced by these characters throughout the DVD, students can enjoy themselves and acquire the ability to think for themselves. There is also a teaching guidebook and worksheets, which makes it possible for teachers and other people to teach these traffic safety concepts in an easy way. All the educational materials including the DVD have been well received for use in home learning also.
The videos are also available on Zenkyoren’s website and can be downloaded by anyone. The educational videos have been watched more than 4 million times already.
Zenkyoren says it will continue to work on traffic safety awareness activities in order to make local communities safer and more secure.
