LAGUNA HILLS : ‘Safety City’ Offers Tips to Youngsters

The sinister figure wore a black hat and drooping black mustache as he brandished a handful of candy at the small boy in front of him.

“Would you take candy from this man?” the 5-year-old was asked.

“No way!” the slight, brown-haired child replied vehemently.

The wooden, play villain was just one of many mock dangers that children visiting “Safety City” in the Laguna Hills Mall faced Wednesday.

The colorful, miniature community posed many of the everyday perils that children face on the streets, and, according to the staff running the exhibit, most of the youngsters passed the tests with flying colors.

“They really know their stuff,” said Eydie Landise, regional manager for Encyclopaedia Britannica, which sponsors the traveling exhibit. “I find that kids in California are really smart about safety.”

Shortly before school opens, the encyclopedia company sponsors “Safety City” programs throughout the country as part of a community-outreach policy. The Laguna Hills Mall display, along with a similar exhibit at the Huntington Center shopping center in Huntington Beach, will be open through Sunday.

On Wednesday, children were given a tour through the 600-square-foot “city,” which featured large wooden representations of a police station, City Hall, a train and several traffic signs.

“My kids were really interested in it because it looks fun, like a playground,” Karen Dennison of Mission Viejo said. “This is like giving them their medicine and making it taste like bubble gum.”

Her children, Joseph, 4, and Colleen, 2, were led from building to building and nodded solemnly as they were told of the hazards or benefits of each structure, vehicle or sign.

Although Landise has been impressed by the children’s scope of safety knowledge, she and health safety officials stressed that early education by parents is essential.

“I see many problems caused by children not knowing basic things like which side of the street to ride their bike,” said Ken Daily, a California Highway Patrol spokesman.

In the South County last March, Mission Viejo was rocked by two deaths of youngsters who were killed by cars in separate incidents about two weeks apart. One child was crossing the street when he was hit, and another was pedaling his bicycle in front of his home when he was struck by a van.

With her son, 5-year-old James, starting school next month, Nancy Wedmore of Laguna Beach said that programs such “Safety City” are important.

“Anytime they’re away from you and in other people’s hands in school, they should know how to handle themselves,” she said.