CHARLOTTE — As students return to classrooms, the American Red Cross is offering safety reminders for children, parents, teachers and motorists as the new school year begins.
The organization is encouraging families to review basic safety practices with children, including what to do while walking, biking or riding a bus to school and how to respond in an emergency.
Younger children should know their phone number and home address, how to contact their parents or another trusted adult and how to call 911 in an emergency. Parents should also remind children not to accept rides, gifts or invitations from strangers.
Children walking to school should use sidewalks whenever possible. Where sidewalks are unavailable, pedestrians should walk facing traffic. Students should stop at street corners and look left, right and left again before crossing and should use marked crosswalks when available.
Students who ride a school bus should arrive at their stop early and wait a safe distance from the curb. They should wait until the bus has stopped before boarding, remain where the driver can see them and never walk behind a bus.
Children who ride bicycles to school should wear properly fitted helmets and ride in the same direction as traffic.
The Red Cross also reminds families that everyone traveling in a vehicle should wear a seat belt. Younger children should use an appropriate car seat or booster seat until a seat belt fits properly, generally when they are between ages 8 and 12 and at least 4 feet, 9 inches tall. Children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat.
Teen drivers should buckle up before driving and avoid distractions such as texting, making phone calls, eating or drinking behind the wheel.
The Red Cross also offers First Aid and Emergency mobile apps that provide information about common emergencies and severe weather alerts. The free apps are available through smartphone app stores.
Students 11 and older and people who work in child care can also take Red Cross babysitting and child care courses. The courses cover child care skills and how to respond to emergencies and are available through online and in-person training.
For teachers and school staff, the Red Cross offers online training on anaphylaxis and the use of epinephrine auto-injectors. The course covers how to recognize severe allergic reactions and properly administer epinephrine.
The organization is also urging motorists to use extra caution as school buses return to the roads.
Yellow flashing lights on a school bus indicate the bus is preparing to stop, and motorists should slow down and prepare to stop. Red flashing lights and an extended stop arm indicate children are getting on or off the bus.
Drivers should remain stopped until the bus’s red lights stop flashing, the stop arm is withdrawn and children have reached a safe location.
On roads divided by a physical barrier, such as a grassy median or concrete barrier, motorists traveling in the opposite direction generally may continue without stopping.
The Red Cross encourages motorists to slow down, remain alert around schools and bus stops and watch for children walking or biking near roadways as the school year gets underway.
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