I am going to tell you about the story of a 9 year old boy called Michael. He lives in a big city that has lots of traffic jams quite often. Michael avoids those traffic jams because he lives two city blocks from a train station. He usually meets two classmates at the train station and they catch the train that runs on the Yellow Line.


During the train ride, Michael and his friends usually notice that many of the city streets are choked with the early morning rush hour traffic. Most times, the vehicles move quite slowly and sometimes they are at a complete standstill. The train ride to the station that is close to their school takes about 15 minutes. The walk to the school is a short one as their school is located about three blocks away.


Michael is fortunate because he can leave his house and be in school in about 25 minutes. He also does not have to wait long for a train as many trains travel along the Yellow Line during that time of the morning. 


Michael and his friends use the train to get to school throughout the year. In the winter while it is cold on the streets, the train station is warm and so is the train. 


One of Michael’s other classmates, Surej lives in a part of the city where there is no train close by. His mother takes him in her car to a train station. His train journey to school takes about 40 minutes and the ride in his mother’s car takes about 10 minutes. Michael once asked Surej why his mother doesn’t bring him all the way to school. He told Michael that she tried doing that a few times but she got stuck in traffic and he was late for school. In order to be on time he would have to leave three hours early with his mother just to avoid the traffic!


Both of these school boys use the train to get to school although one depends on his mom to take him for part of the way.


Questions to consider:


  1. Of the two boys’ trips to school, which one would to prefer to experience every day?
  2. Give a reason for your answer.
  3. Do you think the boys are safe using the train? 
  4. What problems do you think they may encounter from time to time as they travel on the train?
  5. What do you think can be done to ensure that children like Surej and Michael are always safe on trains?