Lollipop man allowed to give high-fives to students after council backs down

An Australian crossing supervisor says the high fives he gives students are key to convincing them to follow the road rules. Outraged parents and members of the public came to the defence of Bayside lollipop man Graham Sanderson, 60, after the council asked him not to touch students. The Bayside Council then backed down.



Alan, a lollipop man who works in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, says the high five was a way to get the road safety message across to children. “I just feel I’ve got about 50 odd nationalities at my school and I reckon I’ve got 275 kids in the school and out of that 275 kids I reckon I’d have about 175 that speak English and the rest don’t,” Alan said. “We have to gain their confidence to use the school crossing, if they don’t like us, they won’t.” Alan has been a lollipop man for 15 years and has won a School Crossing Supervisor of the Year award.

“That’s how I got by, by high-fiving. I’ve been doing it, high-fiving for nearly all the time I’ve been there. We’ve been told we’re not to do it, but I keep doing it anyway,” he said. Council spokesperson Fran Duiker said they received an overwhelming response from the St Mary’s Primary School community. “Graham can continue to high five and greet the children in a friendly and appropriate manner every morning and afternoon,” Ms Duiker said. “If you don’t want Graham to high five, please ask him not to high five your child.”


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Bayside City Council said in a statement that the directive for Mr Sanderson to stop the high-fives was in response to a complaint. “Following advice from the school that parents had signed a petition indicating their support for the crossing supervisor and the practice of high-fives, Council said it was comfortable to allow the practice to continue on the understanding that any parent not wanting their child to receive a high-five must be respected,” the statement read. Earlier, Bayside City Council infrastructure services director Steven White said school crossing supervisors had to follow the council's 'no touch' practice along with all other staff.