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Back To School Safety Tips
You may not be if you haven’t yet taken some measures to ensure your child’s safety this school year. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare that something might happen to a child on the way to or from school. While tragedies rarely occur, many times, they’re preventable. Here are a few tips to go over to be sure that your child is as safe as possible this school year:
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Information
Make sure that your child knows his full name, address and phone number. If he doesn’t, then going over these quick items a few times per day will help him learn quickly. Another strategy is to sing the phone number in the same tune as one of his favorite songs. Put a sheet of paper or a notecard with the information inside his backpack, in case he forgets.
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Bus Stop
Walk with your child to the bus stop or school if you won’t be driving him. Agree upon the safest route, and let him know that he’s not to deviate from it. If he has to go further than the end of the driveway, help him to identify safe places to go if he needs to stop along the way; this might be a neighbor’s house, a store or a public building like a bank or post office.
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Handling Situations
Go over what to do if he’s approached by an unfriendly dog, if he gets stung by a bee, or if an adult that he doesn’t know tries to talk to him. Also, make sure that he can cross a street safely. Knowing basic safety rules will give both of you peace of mind.
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Buddy System
Enforce the buddy system: If your child is outside, he should be with another child or, preferably, a group of children. This deters adults who might have less-than-pure intentions from approaching your child, and it also gives him built-in help if he gets injured on the way home from school.
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Rides
Tell your child who he may accept a ride from. If you can’t come to pick him up from school or from his bus stop, who should he expect to see? Tell him in advance, and remind him never to accept a ride with anyone else.
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Bullying
Teach your child about bullying. It might entail physical, verbal or emotional abuse at the hands of another student. Make sure he knows that he should tell you or his teacher immediately if he is being bullied. Follow up on all potential problems right away; don’t allow bullying situations to fester, as they usually won’t resolve on their own.
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Just in Case
Make a mental note each morning as to what your child is missing should the worst occur and he goes missing. One way to do this is to snap a photo with your cellphone each morning; simply delete the one from the day before before taking a new one.
Remember that terrible events don’t occur very often at all, and chances are that your child will be fine on the way to and from school. Don’t scare him by listing potential tragedies that may befall him, but do be sure that he knows how to keep himself safe and secure.
We wish you a safe, healthy and happy return to school this academic year!
George obtained a Master of Science Engineering Degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology. After graduation, he worked at AT&T Bell Labs and Lucent Technologies after the company split. With an extensive background in construction management and ergonomic space design, spanning residential and commercial, designing and installing closets in New Jersey is second nature for him.