Back to School Safety

As summer draws to a close, back-to-school season is in full effect. Safety should be a priority for every family as children return to classrooms this fall. It is important for parents to stay up-to-date on the proper safety precautions and share this information with their children to keep them safe throughout the school year. Even though we homeschool here at our house, we live very close to an elementary school and see school buses traveling daily with children.

Back-to-School Safety Checklist – Use this checklist to review important safety procedures to make sure your children are fully prepared for the school year.

Teen Driving Safety – The back-to-school season is a great time to learn about Graduated Driver Licensing and what practices will work best for your family. Parents can also find more information to help their teen drivers at driveithome.org.

Safety while riding the school bus is very important. Have the discussion before school starts about how to wait for the bus and how to get on and off the bus. Go with your child the first week to make sure they are understanding the concept. Many young children will be scared at first, but catch on soon enough. 

As a driver, the school bus's should be a high priority for paying attention and not being distracted while driving! 

School Bus Safety: Back-to-School Tips for Parents – Teach your children how to stay safe on and around school buses.

School Safety from National Safety Council 

Playground Safety – Every year more than 200,000 children visit hospital emergency rooms because of playground injuries, many of which could have been prevented.

Backpack Safety – Overloaded backpacks continue to cause injuries, including bruises, sprains and strains to the back and shoulder and fractures.

Preventing Bullying – Every adult plays an important role in addressing bullying and making schools a safe and respectful place for all children.

Drive Safely with School Buses – Safety tips for motorists to share the road safely with school buses during back-to-school season and throughout the year.




Stop Bullying: What Parents Can Do – Educate your children on the signs of bullying and learn what to do if your child is bullied. Next week we will talk more about bullying and what to do if you think your child is being bullied at school or online.

Thank you to the National Safety Council for much of this information, visit their website for much more information.

Should schools have the main responsibility?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/snapshot.htm?section=N&label=2009-07-14-skuldrug

Interesting poll and snapshot in USA today: "teaching teens about drug abuse, should your kids be taught this at school or do you think it is your responsibility". How honest are you with your teens about your drug and alcohool use as a teen? I made some very bad choices myself in high school and now regret them, but I use those bad choices to teach my teen and other teens about the stupid things that I did. I can not imagine the brain cells that I must have wasted on drugs and alcohol. I could have been a rocket scientist but I also could have killed someone or myself by my choices. I did make the decision to stop making bad choices after high school and went on to college, become a nurse and have a family now. Imagine my outcome if I had not stopped. How about the outcome of your teen, which do you want?? The wrong choice could mean a body bag and a funeral service. Think about it, do you want to leave the responsibility up to your teen's school to teach them about "choices"

I'll leave you thinking on that one
~~~Leslie~~