Regardless of which category one falls under, one fact remains the same: Eventually, and hopefully, you will be ticketed. Worse case scenario is that a child will be injured, or God forbid, killed.

To avoid this, there are very simple-to-follow rules that can help avoid these occurrences.

1) Drive slowly in school zones when children are present.

2) Stop at crosswalks when you see children and/or parents waiting to cross: They have the right of way, and it is the law that you must stop.

3) Do not park and leave your car in the drop-off zone. There are clearly posted signs to that effect, and you can and will be cited for that infraction.

4) Do not drive through or park in the parking lot. The parking lot is designed for school staff. These employeess need to be able to park in order to assist and teach children. When cars drive through the parking lot, it puts the children in danger as they are trying to get to their classes.

5) Always insist that your children use the designated crosswalks. Too often I have observed parents escorting their children across the middle of the street. Worse, I have seen parents let their kids cross through the traffic alone. Not only is this dangerous in a clustered situation, but you are your child’s first teacher, and, therefore, you should go the extra few feet to teach them the proper safety precautions.

We all want the children to be safe when arriving to school each day and would hate to see something terrible happen as the result of one mistake. Please, let’s make the 2007-08 school year a safe one. Working together, we can make sure that each and every child arrives safely each day.

— Julie El-Khoury, Camarillo