There are few things most of us wouldn't do to protect our kids. But a set of parents in one neighborhood is taking some serious heat for their latest plan to keep their kids safe. They erected a controversial sign, with a picture of a gun, warning speeding drivers to slow down.
A photo of the sign in Wayne, New Jersey, has gone viral, with parents split on whether the mother and father of three young kids -- ages 10 to 13 -- have gone too far or not far enough. After all, this is no, "Slow, Kids at Play" sign. Instead, it reads:
WARNING -- If you hit one of these kids because you are speeding you will not need a lawyer
Underneath is the outline of a gun because, hint, hint, you're gonna die.
Some folks are offended. Others say it's much more effective than your standard sign.
And maybe it will be.
But you know what's more effective? Keeping your darn kids out of the road.
If we've seen it once, we've seen it a hundred times. Parents erect signs in the neighborhood, warning drivers to lay off the gas, and then proceed to allow their kids to play in the street.
Then they curse and scream and shake their fists at drivers for being "irresponsible." Really?
Now, now, we're not saying this couple in Wayne is irresponsible. For all we know, their kids may never even leave the front stoop.
But the fact remains that road signs are no guarantee that your kids are going to be safe. Anyone in law enforcement or on a highway crew can tell you that they can put up 1,000 signs, and drop the speed limit down to turtle, and it still will not keep all drivers on the straight and narrow in residential neighborhoods. It stinks, but unfortunately, that's life.
Teaching your kids basic safety rules and keeping an eye on them, on the other hand, does guarantee their safety. If your kid knows better than to play in the street, if they know to look both ways before chasing a ball into the road, if you actually watch them until they're old enough to use common sense -- even if you're watching out the window (no one says you need to be up their rear ends) -- accidents are much less likely to happen, even when there are idiot drivers about.
At the end of the day, it's our responsibility to protect our kids, not the drivers in our neighborhood.
What do you make of this sign? Would you put it up?
Image via Michael Pareckas/Flickr