Student safety on the school bus remains a key priority for transportation teams across North America. But how do you convince kids that safety is important? Well, kids like games and those can help with learning!
Gamifying can transform monotonous training sessions into engaging ones that students are likely to follow. So, how can districts gamify school bus safety for students? Let’s find out.
1. Encourage Collaboration and Competition
Gamification can not only enhance school bus safety for students, but it can also create bonds and make new friendships.
- Form Teams: School districts can form groups to earn collective points. They can be divided according to their grades or routes to create bonds.
- Leaderboards: A friendly leaderboard can be posted in the school or bus to make the competition transparent. The group with the highest safety points can be presented as role models.
- Safety Ambassadors: Students with the highest points and best attitude can be promoted as ambassadors. The title can push more students to compete for the spot.
2. Create a Rewards System
A points-based reward system can catch students’ attention, and incorporating it in the school bus safety system could be the way to go.
- Appreciate Good Behavior: Students who follow the rules in the bus, such as remaining seated and not being rowdy, can be rewarded with points.
- Offer Rewards: Children with the best behavior at the end of the week or month can be rewarded with small prizes and recognition.
Not only does collaboration encourage more compliance, but it also supports ownership. Peer-led initiatives can push students to take safety more seriously.
3. Incorporate Interactive Training Activities
School districts across the U.S. are looking for creative ways to turn traditional bus safety training into something more entertaining and interactive. Lectures and printout materials are a thing of the past, and gamified activities are the way forward in the field.
- Evacuation Challenges: Schools can turn evacuation drills into a fun activity by making it a friendly competition between different classrooms, with rewards for those who do it most quickly and safely.
- Role-Playing Scenarios: Transportation teams can create real-life bus emergency situations in a safe and controlled environment to help students learn best practices during emergencies.
- Introduce Safety App: Information and games on mobile apps could help students learn while playing on their phones. It could turn into a fun and educational experience.
- Quizzes: These can be held every few months to test different students’ knowledge of safety situations and protocols, with prizes and badges for those who score highly.
Final Thoughts
Turning safety into a game that only has winners can change the way parents see the student transportation department. While safety training is important, so is investing in a student transportation platform that can boost safety for students with powerful AI tools.
Get in touch with us today to learn about BusPlanner’s all-in-one student transportation management solution!
