Safety or not?

This is the high school down the road near my flat. I walked by today when school finished. Do you see the two people standing by the gates? They're students and everyday a couple of them stand by the gates holding poles to protect pedestrians from ... I'm not sure what to be honest, because pedestrians just walk around them onto the road which is even more dangerous.

This is my photo entry to the contest held by @nathen007 to share somewhere local to where we live. Nothing fancy, just some place raw, real and local. Check out his post and contest announcement here