They do that here too ---- at the schools, they have the kids just stepping into traffic --- the students are told they have the right of way --- no one wants to "inhibit" their rights to tell them they should still stop, look both ways, and listen before crossing a street or that the car coming toward them could have a drunk or otherwise impaired driver.
When you hit one of them sometime and are brought up on charges, you too will discover that you are required to yield the right of way to pedestrians.