Back-to-School Safety Tips
Being mindful of safe practices for sending kids back to school
It’s back to school once again. Sigh…..yayy….whooh…
A collective groan may have just escaped your lips as you massage your tired eyes and temples. Your mind conjures up the back-to-school aisle at the store. You imagine the new clothes and the shoes that will need to be purchased, the time that needs to be scheduled to make it to the multiple stores, because let’s face it, there is not going to be a single store that has everything you will need, right?
Right.
You try to cast your mind’s eye on the back-to-school supply list and hope you haven’t forgotten anything. You already have the beginnings of a migraine.
“It’s just too soon….summer just started…” Oof!
The last thing you want or need is yet another list.
This won’t be just a school supply list.
This is a list of things to work on throughout the year, especially if you have smaller kids just starting school.
Keeping your kids safe is going to be your priority, so here are a few tips.
Identification
Putting your kid's name on a child’s backpack is one of the go-tos when trying to prevent another child from mistaking his backpack for another. Nothing wrong with that. Instead of putting the name or initials on the outside, consider putting it inside. This prevents predators from getting easy access to your child. One of the ways they do this is to get the child’s name and use it with the child to establish familiarity and comfort to lower a child’s defenses. This goes for personal information as well as home addresses.
Memorization
The more information a child can memorize, the better. Try to drill them daily on their street name, house number, city, and phone numbers. You would be amazed at how much children can memorize.
Social media caution
Children can be a source of pride and joy for parents who can’t resist posting pictures on their social media accounts. One thing to consider is not posting the location of the picture that was taken or posted. Most social media platforms should allow you to shut the location feature off. This is the go-to for predators who scour people's profiles looking for information.
Scooby-doo, where are you?
Finally, knowing where your child is will give you calm and comfort. Some parents might want to consider using Apple air tags when they are sending their children into densely crowded areas and on field trips.
I hope this was helpful.
Let’s have another safe school year, parents.
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