Does anyone remember 'Parol Boys' in grade school?

O

OldEngineer

Member
Location
San Diego, CA
Patrol Boys were 6th graders who were basically crossing guards. We had official looking white belts that went diagonally across our chest and around our middle. A Patrol Boy would be stationed at each major street crossing around the school. We would stand, with arms spread, blocking everyone until it was safe to cross. I don't remember any adult crossing guards helping. I still have my brass pin that says 'Patrol Captain' but don't remember my duties.
 

Yup, I did that but we were called crossing guards. I can't remember how old I was but I know I wasn't a 6th grader yet.
We had the official looking white belts and a double sided Stop sign. Maybe also a hat? I'm not sure ..

Edit ~ Been thinking and I'm not sure if we were called crossing guards, or safety something or other. I remember getting a certificate at the end of the school year for volunteering. I went to a different school, 6-8th grade after that.
 
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For some reason, the "Safety Patrol" as we called it since girls also participated, just popped up in memory a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't given that a thought for years. My school was K-8 so the 8th graders were in charge. Yeah belts, and don't forget, special rain coats for bad weather. It may have been the first time I felt officially important in my life. The younger kids took us seriously too.
My school was on a side street, so there wasn't a lot of traffic. It wasn't busy enough to warrant stop signs.
 

Yes I was involved with that duty also...we had a small fold-up
metal stand that was put out in street/highway...the cop told
us if a driver was going so fast they blew over the sign to
come get the cop....I went for the cop 1 time....LOL...
 
Yes, I do.....with trembling. We had to cross a busy highway, so the Patrol Boys, who were always 8th graders, had to come get us across.

They were the biggest bullies in school and absolutely terrified the younger kids with threats of what they could do.

I remember just keeping my head down and trying to stay "under the radar".
 
OldEngineer said:
Patrol Boys were 6th graders who were basically crossing guards. We had official looking white belts that went diagonally across our chest and around our middle. A Patrol Boy would be stationed at each major street crossing around the school. We would stand, with arms spread, blocking everyone until it was safe to cross. I don't remember any adult crossing guards helping. I still have my brass pin that says 'Patrol Captain' but don't remember my duties.
Click to expand...
 
OldEngineer said:
Was that in the mid 1950's? I know that in later decades we had adults helping.
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No. I wasnā€™t even born yet and when I first went to school, it was in England but once I went to school in Canada, my first public school was Kindergarten to grade 6 and we had one adult crossing guard since there was only one place that needed guarding.

In grades 7 & 8, in another school up the road, we also only had one adult crossing guard since there was only one section ( crossway) to guard.

I donā€™t ever recall any children being crossing guards. In Canada I started school mid 60ā€™s.
 
My school didnā€™t have Patrol Boys, but we had ball captains, a coveted position with the responsibility of taking the kickball out and in each recess. The ball captain also had to chase and retrieve the kickball when it went out of bounds.

When in 2nd grade, I was a ball captain. When a classmate once kicked the ball, it beaned a crabby 3rd grade teacher everyone was afraid of. Retrieving the ball, she chewed me down one side and up the other, assuming that I had kicked the ball. Terrified, I didnā€™t have a chance to tell her otherwise.

And I never wanted to be ball captain againā€¦ šŸ˜ø
 

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