Tips and Reminders for Back to School Safety

As boys and girls throughout your community get ready to head back to class, it’s important to ensure they have a safe school year. Here are some tips on how your family can be proactive and avoid potentially harmful situations:

• Obey the speed limit signs posted in your community.

• Keep your eyes on the road at all times, especially when driving through any neighborhood or near a school.

• Do not attempt to drive around a stopped school bus.

• Show your children which houses in the neighborhood they can go to in case no one is at home after school. Talk to the HOA board to see if there are any official safe houses in the community that your child can go to.

• Report reckless drivers to the police, and if you know their address please also call us at (408) 226-3300 to report them and help make sure the neighborhood remains safe, particularly during times when kids are going to and returning from school.

• If your children will be walking to school, walk the route with them several times to make sure they understand traffic laws and can walk the route on their own. Also, find a friend or sibling they can walk with, and make sure they always use the buddy system.

• Coordinate a carpool with your neighbors to cut down on traffic around the school and to ensure your child makes it to and from school safely.

• Let your children know exactly who they can go home with after school if their regular ride can’t pick them up, and make sure they know not to accept rides from people who aren’t on the list.

• Make sure your school has your child’s updated emergency contact information. Write down any specific instructions that should be followed in case of an emergency, and have the school keep them in your child’s file. Also, talk to your child’s teachers and alert them to any medical issues your child has and explain what to do if an issue arises.

• Help your children memorize important phone numbers so that they know how to get in touch with you and other trusted adults. Also, make sure those numbers are programmed into their cell phones, or provide them with a list of phone numbers that they can keep in their backpacks or wallets at all times.