As families prepare for the upcoming school year, safety should be top of mind for students, parents, and the community. From getting to school safely to staying protected online, here are key reminders and tips to ensure a safe and confident return to class.
Walking and Biking to School
- Children should use sidewalks whenever available, look both ways before crossing streets, and only cross at intersections—preferably with traffic control signals or where a crossing guard is present.
- Encourage children to pay attention to their surroundings, avoid distractions such as mobile phones or earbuds, and, when possible, walk with a friend or in a group.
- Parents and guardians should review and walk their child’s route to and from school to help them feel confident and prepared.
- If your child carries a cell phone, consider enabling location sharing so their whereabouts can be monitored if needed.
- Take a recent, high-quality photo of your child. In an emergency, having an up-to-date image can help responders quickly identify and locate them.
School Bus Safety
- Drivers must remain alert and prepared for increased school bus traffic. Children often wait near roadways and may need to cross the street.
- When a school bus activates its amber (yellow) flashing lights, it is preparing to stop. Drivers should slow down and be ready to stop.
- When red flashing lights are on, drivers must stop at least 20 feet from the bus.
- Do not pass a stopped school bus—this is dangerous and illegal. This law applies to all roadways except divided highways with a physical barrier.
- On multi-lane roads without a barrier, traffic in both directions must stop when the red lights are flashing.
Online & Digital Safety
- As children reconnect with friends and engage in online learning or activities, it’s important for parents to stay informed about their child’s digital use.
- Set parental controls, talk openly about internet safety, and remind children never to share personal information with people they don’t know.
- Monitor app usage regularly. New applications are frequently introduced. Some may contain disappearing messages, explicit content, encrypted chats, or enable anonymous communication and meet-ups with strangers. A common, but not all-inclusive, list includes:
- Snapchat
- Discord
- Telegram
- Kik
- Yubo
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