GATESVILLE, Texas -- With the summer just around the corner, Soldiers in the 120th Infantry Brigade helped children with one more lesson before the end of the school year during a recent visit to its adopted school in Gatesville.
Gatesville Intermediate School fifth-graders learned the ABCs of summer safety from various community safety organizations during the school's safety day May 18.
"Children at this age begin to be home or out with less adult supervision," said Julie Gardner, Coryell County extension agent and safety day coordinator. "The things that cause the most accidents are auto passenger safety, swimming and boating. There has also been a rise in accidents dealing with firearms and children."
The morning-long event included presentations from the Coryell County Sherriff's office focusing on firearm awareness and farm equipment safety from an area rancher. The program focused on the accidents seen most often in and around Gatesville.
While only about half of the children said they lived on or around a farm, the farm safety instructor reminded the children of the potential consequences of colliding with slow-moving farm equipment while riding in an automobile. The presentation also aimed its message at children who might visit a farm during the summer.
A deputy from the Coryell County Sherriff's office urged the children to follow four rules if they encounter an unsecured firearm. His four simple rules: stop, don't touch, leave the area and tell an adult.
The day wasn't all gloom and doom for the children. Representatives from the Texas New Mexico Power Company provided an electrical light show when they demonstrated the dangers of downed power lines and what happens when metal objects touch electric lines.
"Our teachers want to keep us safe over the summer because when we are out of school, we have more free time and we could get into more trouble," said Halley Nichols, a student at Gatesville Intermediate School.
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