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Creepy Child-Shaped Bollards Freak Out Parents At Elementary School
Creepy, no?
I haven’t seen Doctor Who, but I’ve seen enough freaky movies to know that child-shaped bollards belong in one of them and not outside of a real life elementary school.
A school in England — Compton Church of England Primary School in Plymouth — wants cars to slow down outside and thought that child-shaped bollards would do the trick. Instead they’re freaking out parents, who said the posts are just plain scary.
And at £350 each, the 3-foot high bollards are supposed to make drivers slow down safely, not swerve off the side of the road and potentially hit the very (real) kids they’re meant to protect.
The Plymouth City Council imposed the bollards as a planning condition, but are now revisiting the thought since parents are concerned the fake kids might also frighten the real ones.
The bollards are said to be a cheaper alternative and more effective than traffic cameras. Other areas in England have used them and found that people slow down when they see what they think might be a child.
The school said the idea of the bollards prompted more complaints than they’ve ever had.
For their part, the makers of the bollards are said to remain proud of them. That’s nice, but I’m sure Damien’s “maker” was proud of him, too.
Would you mind having child-shaped bollards outside of your kid’s school?
Image: Creative Commons
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14 Comments
[...] That’s Creepy News, a school in England has put out posts that resemble children in hopes of making drivers more aware of the kids walking around the school. They’ve managed [...]
Daily Link Round-up - Baby Pictures and Baby Products for Moms and Kids - Tots and Giggles commented on Jun 27 11 at 5:01 pmSteve Cleave commented on Jun 25 11 at 11:59 amGreat to see we’ve gone global.
I am the headteacher of the school above and lets get two things straight.1. “A school in England — Compton Church of England Primary School in Plymouth — wants cars to slow down outside and thought that child-shaped bollards would do the trick” No we didn’t. As your blog later points out, the condition was imposed and we had no say.
2. They have not gone up yet and are now under review. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-13900134
But honestly, it makes me smile to see we’ve gone global with our little bollards story.
Kate commented on Jun 25 11 at 12:57 pmYou really should watch Doctor Who, haha. Awesome show. But these things are freaky.
Snarky Mama commented on Jun 25 11 at 4:51 pmAre English teenagers less hooligan-ish than their American counterparts? ‘Cause all I can imagine is a really crazy game of mailbox baseball…
goddess commented on Jun 25 11 at 6:25 pmROFLMAO @Snarkymomma. What a great visual……
Jamie Jamieson commented on Jun 26 11 at 3:41 pmI think the fake child idea is great. It should certainly slow cars down. Bollards are typically about the height of a 3-year-old child, and accordingly anthropomorphize into children from the driver’s point of view. Children might be briefly startled on day 1, then intrigued, then the bollards become part of the furniture (and quite distinctive furniture at that). The whole point is to make drivers slow down and not hit children. If they’re slightly ‘freaky’ so much the better.
Brianna commented on Jun 27 11 at 12:07 amIt’s a little freaky, but with the publicity I believe they got their point across and technically that’s all that matters. If this has reached a global stand point then, they did their job.
bob commented on Jun 27 11 at 1:56 pmAnybody else reminded of this?:
https://watchinsomemovies.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/38a-the-sound-of-music.jpg
Sarcastic Mum commented on Jun 28 11 at 7:09 amPersonally, I think they are awesome and i would post them outside of my house. I believe some people just take life too seriously. It might freak a child out? So will a car side bomb, but we still have those (not by our choosing). I agree with Jamie. Kids are resilient. They may even come to joke about them and play with them. If it slows people down, then what’s the big deal?
And Snarky momma, I couldn’t agree more. LOL I don’t know if they play games like we do in london, but we’d have a BALL with these. They’re like big garden Gnomes! Who could resist?
blondie commented on Jun 28 11 at 7:19 amNo, snarky mama…my experience is that they are worse. Forget baseball bats, they would just get drunk and set them on fire! That’s what they like to do to the parks….ugh
Amy commented on Jun 28 11 at 7:47 amNow, if they could only pipe in some “Edelweiss”…
V Cooper commented on Jun 28 11 at 8:33 amI’d try anything to get people to slow in school zones. Too many kids have been hit at the school where my oldest went to Kindergarten & I kept waiting to hear reports at his 1st grade school as it’s between 4 schools, yet people drive likes it’s a main road or something!
VIcki Brett commented on Jun 28 11 at 12:41 pmOn a recent trip to Denmark we came across child shaped figures which appeared to be waving at you on many of their main roads. These seemed to be effective speed deterrence!
Ryan commented on Jul 10 11 at 3:17 pmThe signs are creepy because they suffer from what’s known as the uncanny valley effect, a psychological phenomena in which depictions of humans with a human likeness that falls between a certain percent range invoke fears or mortality and death, as well as nausea, which makes them especially dangerous to drivers. If making the images on the signs look more or less realistic doesn’t “cure” them from the uncanny valley effect because of the fact that they are flat, then they should be replaced by “non-uncanny valley” statues, if economically possible and practical.
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