The Children’s Dream Foundation wants all children to stay safe and healthy and to have a happy, successful school year.
That is why we are sharing what we consider to be some important safety tips for parents and/or caregivers to review with their children. Please note that some of the following apply specifically to school-aged children.
- Ensure your child knows their address and phone number, including the code to the home security system.
- Give your child lots of Vitamin C to build up their immune system.
- Teach your child about bullying and what to do if they see or have a problem.
- Make sure your child knows what to do if they are approached by a stranger and only accept rides from people they know.
- Help organize your child’s backpack and ensure it’s not more than 20% of his or her weight.
- Ensure your child knows always to wear a helmet when riding a bike.
- Tour the school with your child, so you can meet the new teacher and learn the layout, which will help reduce stress and anxiety on the first day.
- Teach your child to stop at all intersections, only cross the street at a crosswalk, and obey crossing guards.
- Make sure your child uses main streets and travels in groups when walking to and from school.
- If taking the bus, make sure your child knows not to play in the street at the bus stop and only to cross the street after the bus completely stops and puts out the stop sign. Even then, they need to look both ways before crossing.
- If in a carpool, your child should know always to wear their seatbelt.
- Encourage your child to speak openly and never to keep secrets from you.
- Explain to your child that if they should get lost, to stay where they are; if they are in a store or supermarket and they can’t find you, they should go to the counter and ask for help.
- Make sure they know that they should never share personal information online.
- Teach your child to respect others and their points of view, especially when they may have a different approach to things like mask-wearing, Covid precautions, etc. than your family does.
- Make sure your family has some unscheduled time together to enjoy one another, relax, share information, and create meaningful memories; back-to-school time can be very busy with activities, sports, and homework.