Figure 1.-- This photo shows a group of traffic patrol boys from various schools in Springfield, Illinois. We see the first "class" of patrol boys in Sptringfield, Illinois, meeting at the city hall in 1927. The boys wear their regular school clothes but also the white web belts with diagonal shoulder straps that designate the boys as local patrol officers. White could be easily seen against dark clothing on dark mornings and at dusk. Some of the boys wear suit jackets while others wear just shirts or sweaters, but all have on neckties. A few boys wear bow ties, but most wear long (four-in-hand) ties. Some of the boys wear long trousers while others wear knickers with long black stockings. There is some variety of age here but not a very wide variety. All these boys seem to be in the upper grades of primary school, mainly 7th and 8th grade, because patrol duty requires taking considerable responsibility for younger children. These boys are probably between 11 and 13 years old.

The School Safty Patrol quickly became an important aspect of school life. It became a well established institution in the 1920s. The SSP groups were commonly photograohed each year providing interesing glimpses of changing fashions a SSP belts. A good example is the first "class" of patrol boys in Springfield, Illinois, meeting at the city hall (1927). Most available phptographs show individual school groups. We note the SSP group at the Madison School in 1935. It was adopted by thousands of elementary (primary) schools around the country. The AAA reported that there were 0.5 million children participating in about 50,000 schools (2003). When the program began there were few adult crossing guards. Many schools today have a few adults which man the major interesections.

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Created: 5:59 AM 7/5/2008
Last updated: 5:59 AM 7/5/2008