# When did older school kids stop getting assigned as School Crossing Guards? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2016, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401 "2016-08-20T11:38:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401/21 "2016-08-21T08:17:25Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I have never seen students used as crossing guards except at special events. I am not saying it didn’t happen but why would anyone possibly sign up for that? Did they get paid? We got movie tickets to special showings just for crossing guards. I remember seeing _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ and _Popeye_. We also had a shot at being selected to go on TV as a panelist on a sort of kid-sized game show. Being on TV is nerve-wracking when you’re 9. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401/22 "2016-08-21T10:15:54Z")
My son’s school does it; he’s about to start the 6th Grade, so I suppose he’ll be starting soon himself. They work in teams of three - two kids with stop signs at the end of broomsticks to stop the kids/cars, with one on each side of the street, and one commander with a whistle. They wear reflective vests and never leave the sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401/23 "2016-08-21T10:39:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I know adults are hired part time now. > > When did it change? Around the same time that kids stopped delivering newspapers door-to-door, and those jobs went to grups in cars. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401/24 "2016-08-21T15:26:47Z")
Huh. It’s always cops around here. since they have to be able to stop the cars. Never even occurred to me that it might be done by anyone else–kid or adult. There are only a few official crossing spots. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401/25 "2016-08-21T18:21:31Z")
> [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](#): > > I did it in 6th grade; we were called “safeties” back then. We called them safeties, too. It must have been sixth grade; I went to a different school in fifth, and fourth seems a little young. I don’t remember any crossing guards of any age at any of my schools (all the way from K-12). My job was to patrol the playground duting lunch and recess. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401/26 "2016-08-21T22:54:01Z")
Safety patrol must still exist in Palm Beach, FL, because the kids fill a train for their annual field trip to Washington DC. [Palm Beach Post 2016 article](http://extracredit.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/01/14/a-tradition-since-1948-hundreds-of-pbc-safety-patrollers-flock-to-d-c/) ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401/27 "2016-08-21T23:35:43Z")
FWIW, I grew up in the northeast, NY state in the 70s and early 80s, and I never ever saw student crossing guards. They were always moms (or at least women) with spare time who did it. And they were only assigned around grade schools (grades K thru 5). Middle and high school students didn’t need them and would not have payed any attention to them anyway (student or adult\*!\*) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401/28 "2016-08-22T01:49:36Z")
I remember the older kids being crossing guards, and I’m pretty sure they were called crossing guards. This wiki article confirms both names. > **[Junior safety patrol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_safety_patrol)** > > Junior safety patrol is a voluntary group of crossing guards involving older students helping younger students cross streets in elementary and middle schools across the United States. Both the Chicago Motor Club and the St. Paul Police started programs in 1920. > As of 1995, safety patrol members were located in 76 percent of the communities across the United States. AAA clubs across the United States and Canada sponsor the 500,000 member safety patrol program in 50,000 schools. Local AAA clubs ... No mention when students stopped doing it, or if they ever did. Sounds like they still do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-older-school-kids-stop-getting-assigned-as-school-crossing-guards/763401.md?page=1)