Article about Work on traffic song carried out by students from a public school in Belém do Pará in 2008

 

Work on traffic song carried out by students from a public school in Belém do Pará in 2008

In 2008, at the invitation of the History teacher, several groups from the public school Instituto de Educação Estadual do Pará (IEEP) prepared works to present during National Traffic Week in September. The 3T03 class  chose to create a song that talked about traffic. The students met with the teacher, who made considerations about traffic such as the need for traffic education; the importance of following traffic rules; citizenship; the rights of the weakest in traffic; the respect that must exist between traffic participants.

Based on the teacher's instructions, the students made a song, with specific lyrics about traffic. The students presented their work on September 25th to the public (students from different classes, teachers, technicians, secretariat employees). Copies of the song's lyrics were distributed so that those watching could also sing along. There was guitar accompaniment. Below are the lyrics to the song written by the students:

 

“Ill-mannered people obstruct traffic,

Kindness is fundamental, fundamental.

 

There's no point in warming your head,

There is no need to advance the signal, the signal.

 

Press arrow to change lane

Or to enter the transverse, transverse.

 

Chorus

Everyone has the right to life,

Everyone has equal rights.

Pedestrians and cyclists deserve your respect,

You shouldn't mistreat them.

 

Prepare the windshield

The storm is coming, the storm is coming.

 

Wait, don't insist with the horn, move your car

Of my metal, my metal.

 

Slow down to take in the view

Less weight on the pedal, on the pedal.

 

We have to be careful in traffic,

The street belongs to everyone, etc. and so on.

 

Blink to pull over, excuse me, thank you

See you later and bye.

 

Good morning, good afternoon, good night, okay, kindness is fundamental, it’s fundamental.”

 

Considerations

The work was developed considering the concept that traffic education is a factor of great importance for the formation of responsible citizens in traffic, who respect social norms and all participants in traffic.

As Hoffman (2003) says: “Traffic Education” is not essentially an integral part of a person's social education or moral education, but it derives from them, takes its methods and procedures to awaken the citizen conscience of students. Traffic Education is an additional aspect of ethical-social education, understood as a set of values, norms, principles, habits, which determines and helps to enable social coexistence between people, but with its own content. And further: “The resources, whatever they may be (oral expression, simulation, empathy exercise, written and artistic expression and the analysis of behavior in real situations), must help students to reflect on themselves, on their attitudes towards others people and institutions on the social issues that surround them”. The resource used in the work was music. According to Rodrigues (1999): “Musical art, aimed at Education, has great power to raise awareness, have fun and educate. Furthermore, through music, students are able to assimilate content more easily, developing communication and expression skills. Singing enables the transmission of ideas, feelings, emotions and expands social relationships.”

The lyrics of the song created by the students talk about kindness, patience, respect for signage, respect for pedestrians and cyclists, control of speed. These are necessary elements for safer traffic. It is interesting, however, that the student authors of the song position themselves as car drivers (“my metal”) and not as pedestrians or cyclists, which would be more in line with their social reality. Thus, the strong vision of the car in traffic remains in people's imagination. Despite this, the experience can be considered positive, as they tried to convey the image of a good driver, respect for all traffic participants and respect for the rules. None of the students were experienced composers or trained musicians. Some knew a little about how to play the guitar. The music, after being created by the students, was rehearsed during class breaks for the performance on the scheduled day.

 

Bibliographic references

 

Hoffmann, HA Education as a promoter of socially significant behaviors in traffic. Human Behavior in Traffic. Sao Paulo-SP). Psychologist's House. 2003.

 

Rodrigues, J. Traffic Education in Elementary Education, Open Path to Citizenship. ABDETRAN. 1999.

 

Human Transport. Cities with quality of life. ANTP. 1999.

 

 Márcio José Matos Rodrigues - History teacher and psychologist