Preparing Your Child for a Safe School Year

by Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger

07 Aug 2006 07:34 PM

As it nears the time to send your children back to school you may want to review the safety precautions that accompany the school day. These may vary for you and your family. You may have additional points that you need to cover.

1) You should review the rules of walking to and from school with your children. Many areas of the country bus nearly all of their children to school because of the many dangers, which are involved with walking to school. You will want to review street safety as well as stranger safety. You may want to set up a group of neighborhood children who walk together everyday or have a different mother walk with the children every day.

2) If your child takes the bus you will want to review the basic bus safety rules that your school district expects your children to follow. You also may want to review the importance of waiting on the sidewalk instead of in the road. You may want to walk your children to and from the bus stop everyday.

3) You may also want to review with your children the appropriate time to tell an adult about a dangerous situation. When I taught, I had one student bring a rife to school. He showed it to several students, and one of them came forward (very bravely) to tell the vice-principal that there was a gun at school. The student who brought the rifle had no intentions of using it that day, but it was still important that this rule be enforced.

4) If you have a teenager who will be driving themselves to school you may want to set up rules for how many people she can drive to school with her. You may also want to set up guidelines including the times she needs to be home after school, and what happens if she leaves campus when she is not allowed to.

If you review these expectations with your children now, your children will be better prepared to meet the new school year safely.

Learn more about Miriam Caldwell

Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children.

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