Safe start to school in Jena: Police and student guides in action!

Safe start to school in Jena: Police and student guides in action!

Today, August 11, 2025, a new chapter begins for many children in Jena: the first day of school! In order to make the start of school safe, student guides and police officers were on duty at the Lobdeburg School. Police increased their presence around schools to improve road safety, particularly through speed checks and the behavior of so-called “parent taxis”. The correct use of child seats and the requirement to wear seat belts were also the focus of the operation, as Jenaer Nachrichten reports.

Four student guides were particularly active at the Lobdeburg School: Lena Franke (14), Madleen Rau (14), Alonge Blessing (15) and Mia Enke (14). They wore eye-catching neon yellow safety vests and stood at pedestrian crossings where they helped their younger classmates cross safely. This commitment was praised by Police Chief Inspector Aline Gloger, who coordinated the operation. According to her, it is very important to provide first graders with a safe transition.

The role of the student guides

The student pilot service has a long tradition in Germany and has existed since 1953. During this time, it has been shown that no serious or fatal accidents have occurred at crossings that are secured by student pilots. This illustrates how important student pilots are for road safety. They are mostly students from the 7th grade onwards who take on this role voluntarily, often in collaboration with their teachers, as the Verkehrswacht confirms. Even younger students can already act as pilots in some federal states, such as Brandenburg or Berlin.

The main task of the student guides is to guide younger classmates safely across the street, especially in dangerous places. They are recognized as traffic assistants in the road traffic regulations (StVO) and wear special clothing that increases their visibility. Your training is carried out by police officers or local traffic guards and includes both theoretical and practical content, lasting approximately six to twelve hours.

A commitment with a future

There are currently around 50,000 student guides active in Germany, all of whom contribute to increasing safety on school routes. Statistics show that 27.7% of all child traffic accidents occur during typical school commute times. It is therefore crucial that volunteers, such as student guides, are present on busy roads to avoid accidents. Not only is your work important, but it is also legally insured against accidents, which gives parents additional security (Bussgeldkatalog).

Overall, today's operations in Jena and the ongoing efforts to ensure school routes are safe show how important strong community commitment is. It is all the more important to increase knowledge of this valuable requirement among the population and to continue to work actively to improve road safety for our children.