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Kids Learn Safety By Watching Cable

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By JOYCE McKENZIE

jmckenzie@tampatrib.com

Published: November 26, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE - When Temple Terrace firefighter-paramedic Joe Cable walks into the third-grade classrooms at Riverhills Elementary, the kids can't wait to greet him.

"Good morning, Mr. Cable," sang out teacher Kellie Frace's students when they noticed his presence last week.

Cable, who since September has come to the campus on a twice-monthly basis, was there to talk about gun safety as part of the city fire department's Risk Watch pilot program on injury prevention, developed by the National Fire Protection Association and co-funded by the Home Safety Council.

The four-month program, aimed at teaching third-graders how to identify risks and protect themselves from serious injury, is divided into eight segments:

•motor vehicle safety

•fire and burn prevention

•choking, suffocation and strangulation prevention

•poisoning prevention

•falls prevention

•firearms injury prevention
•bike and pedestrian safety

•water safety

According to the Centers for Disease Control, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among children 14 and younger in the nation. The city believes with education, these injuries can be prevented.

"I've been thrilled with the way he's been able to open their minds to this life-saving information," said Riverhills Principal Jackie Scaglione. "He can talk to them about his own experiences on the job, not in a gruesome fashion but in a way that still gives the effect of making wrong choices."

Cable, who rotated from classroom to classroom every 15 minutes, asked the children in Daphaney Brown's class to write a short story on how they would respond to the following scenario:

"It was a warm afternoon. Wesley and Michael were outside playing cops and robbers. The boys happened to find a gun. They thought it was a toy gun, but it wasn't."

"You decide," said Cable, who allowed four minutes for them to write down their responses.

One girl responded with, "They called 911 and the police officers came and took care of it."

Another student wrote, "They called the police, but before the police came they started playing with it and they got hurt."

"If you find a gun, don't ever pick it up," said Cable, who also told the kids that if there are guns in their homes, the bullets should never be left loaded inside gun, but kept in a safe, out-of-children's-reach place.

Cable, who hopes to also take the program to third-graders in other Temple Terrace elementarys, said fire rescue and public education go hand in hand.

"This is just one more way we can use of time and effort to teach the kids how to be safe," he said. "It's especially important in today's world."

Brown said her students really enjoy having Cable make them aware of the many dangers and unexpected situations outside the classroom.

Teacher Tiffany Lengwin also gives high marks to the program.

"It gives kids the life skills they probably would not learn otherwise," she said. "They also take home and share what they've learned with their brothers and sisters."

A graduation ceremony - with diplomas, cookies, milk and the opportunity to explore a Temple Terrace fire truck - is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 19.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849.

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