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Assignment: heavy traffic Photo by Jim Craven Kids and cars intermix on Hamilton Street near Washington School as students depart at the end of the day Tuesday. A neighbor and parent wants to start adult crossing guards to help keep the kids safe. Medford parent urges volunteer watch near elementary school By VICKI GUARINO They live just a few blocks from school, but youngsters who walk to Washington Elementary tread some hazardous ground, says one worried mom. Kelly Carson wants the community to do something to lessen the danger of crossing the streets closest to the school. She wants to enlist adults in the neighborhood for a voluntary street crossing watch. She hopes that a few adult monitors will get drivers to do something they too seldom do for little kids: Stop at the crosswalks. "People just don't stop," Carson says. "They really don't care whether a kid is there or not." Some of the worst offenders are parents Carson says she has seen drop off their children at the front of the school and then take off. She worries about her own son, Kristopher, a Washington second-grader, and many of his classmates. "I sat out here one day and watched a kid almost get hit," Carson says. The driver momentarily stopped, but as the youngster began crossing, the driver crossed in front of the child. Medford police patrols help, Carson says, but she doesn't expect the department to provide nonstop surveillance. Yet when the police aren't around, many drivers seem to ignore the crossings -- and the students. Part of the problem, Carson concedes, are the students themselves. The youngsters get distracted and fail to pay attention to traffic. Her own son has been guilty of that, she says, despite her efforts to teach him to cross streets cautiously. "The police were at my door, saying my son wasn't paying attention," Carson recalls. "He said my son almost got hit." The areas Carson is most concerned about are at the back of Washington School, along Hamilton Street. The school's playing fields put considerable distance between Hamilton and the school, making it difficult for school staff to keep an eye on children crossing Hamilton. Peach Street, directly in front of Washington School, is monitored. "There's no doubt that it's dangerous crossing in the back," says Washington Principal Stephanie Johnson. "Some of the cars do go by way too fast." A school monitor includes the area in his patrols of school grounds, Johnson says, but the Hamilton Street crossings are just a small part of the territory he covers. And because of the distance, school officials say, it isn't safe to post a student crossing guard without an adult nearby. Johnson supports Carson's idea for an adult crossing guard at the back of the school. She said volunteers would have to commit to just a half-hour or so in the mornings and afternoons. Carson says she would need only a few volunteers to help her get the program started. "It might be too late to get it going this year," Carson says. "But I think I'm going to try to do something for next year." Washington School neighbors who want to volunteer to help may call the school at 776-8860. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA