SCHOOL SAFETY TIPS

Use this checklist to prepare your children for a safe school year.

• Be sure your child knows his or her home phone number and address, your work number, the number of another trusted adult, and how to use 911 for emergencies.
• Make sure your child has enough change to make a phone call or carries a telephone calling card.
• Plan a walking route to school or the bus stop. Choose the most direct way with the fewest street crossings and use intersections with crossing guards. Test the route with your child. Tell him or her to stay away from parks, vacant lots, fields, and other places where there aren't many people around.
• Teach children -- whether walking, biking, or riding the bus to school -- to obey all traffic signals, signs, traffic officers, and safety patrols. Remind them to be extra careful in rainy, foggy, or snowy weather.
• Make sure they walk to and from school with others -- a friend, neighbor, brother, sister.
• When car pooling, drop off and pick up children as close to school as possible. Don't leave until they have entered the school yard or building.
• Teach your child never to talk to strangers or accept rides or gifts from strangers. Remember, a stranger is anyone you or your children doesn't know well or doesn't trust.
• For both children and parents, school bus safety is an important issue that many people overlook. In this first week of school, it is crucial that communities know the traffic safety rules.

Walking and Biking to School:

• Mind all traffic signals and/or the crossing guard - never cross the street against a light, even if you don't see any traffic coming.
• Walk your bike through intersections.
• Walk with a buddy.
• Wear reflective material … it makes you more visible to street traffic.

Riding the Bus:

• Arrive at the bus stop at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to pick the children up.
• Always stand 4 giant steps back from the curb. When lining up, make the line away from the street.
• Never walk behind the bus.
• If the children have to cross the street to access the door, teach them to take at least six giant steps forward on the sidewalk before turning to cross the street. That way, the children and the bus driver can see each other.
• Teach children to look around them before they get on and off the bus, so as not to leave anything behind.
• Make children aware of the straps on their book bags, as well as any drawstrings that might be hanging from their clothes. These can easily get caught in the door or railings, so children need to take care to keep them secure.
• Tell children that if they do drop something near the bus, tell the driver before they do anything. It is important to make sure that the bus driver knows where they are at all times.

If your child is home alone for a few hours after school:

• Set up rules for locking doors and windows, answering the door or telephone.
• Make sure he or she checks in with you or a neighbor immediately after school.
• Agree on rules for inviting friends over and for going to a friend's house when no adult is home.
• Take time to listen carefully to children's fears and feelings about people or places that scare them or make them feel uneasy. Tell them to trust their instincts. Take complaints about bullies and other concerns seriously.
• If he or she wants to change plans after school, always have him or her check first with a parent. Never play in parks, malls, or video arcades by yourself. Make sure you have your parents' permission, and they know where you are going to be.

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CHAIN, YOUNGER, COHN & STILES
1430 Truxtun Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93301-5220
Tel: 661-323-4000