After two months of thinking about anything but school, reminding the young students of the mortal dangers that lie a few feet away on the road is a tough enough task.
Reminding the adults - whether they be drivers whizzing through school zones or parents accompanying the children - is another step up altogether for Richmond RCMP's road safety team.
Despite countless years of hearing the same messages from their parents, teachers and police officers, the former students who're now adults are the main culprits when it comes to flouting the rules of pedestrian safety.
Sgt. Rob Quilley, of Richmond RCMP's road safety unit, has looked on in amazement as adults scurry across busy roads with their children, playing chicken with the traffic.
"We usually head out and do the school zones (in September), but it's the drivers and the parents who need the most reminding," Quilley said.
"We'll do a speed enforcement with the drivers and do some pedestrian education also. Most of the time, the kids are good, it's the parents who are the main problem."
If the kids are by themselves, Quilley added, they tend to use the crosswalks and look left and right, making all the checks.
"But when they're with the parents, they tend to run across the road with them, sometimes when there's traffic on the road and usually because they're running late."
Even with the increased risks of having the two month break, Quilley isn't sure there's an increase in incidents.
"There's certainly not a rash of kids being hit by cars. But we do get a lot of people speeding around the schools in September. In the summer, the 30 kilometres per hour zone doesn't apply.
"So the people who use the same road over and over all year keep speeding when the schools go back."
That is, until Quilley and his colleagues hand the speeders a nice prize of a $167 ticket.
As for advice for the students, the message has rarely changed in the last few decades, according to Quilley; use the crosswalks, follow the lights and make sure the driver knows what you want to do.
At enhanced crosswalks, however, it's a different story.
"Pedestrians assume the cars are going to stop and they just B-line across the road," Quilley said. "Make eye contact, indicate to the driver that you want to cross."
Bus drivers are also an ally of the police when it comes to keeping children safe, often handing officers the registrations of cars that pass the buses illegally while their lights are flashing.
"We often place officers on the buses to witness it. We then radio ahead to a waiting patrol car," Quilley said. The fine; another $167.
Quilley was quick to remind drivers you can also get a $167 fine for passing a car that's yielded to a pedestrian or a school bus with lights flashing.
Quilley warned his team will be out in September for a couple hours a day, checking for unsafe road etiquette on the part of kids and parents.
