The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) offers safety tips for students, parents and teachers as children head back to school to begin a new year. Kids face a number of safety issues in school: more than 160,000 students miss school every day out of fear of bullying, for example, and 59 percent of kids deal with personal property theft.
Top Ten Tips For Keeping Your Student Safe:
- Parents and their children should plan a route to and from school together – whatever the child’s age. Discuss avoiding hazardous short cuts that might take them out of public view.
- Kids in groups are generally safer than alone. Encourage children to walk with friends to and from school.
- Establish clear rules for play after school and review them regularly.
- Children should report suspicious behaviors or threats by other students to a teacher or counselor.
- Help children learn how to manage anger effectively. Encourage the school to provide conflict resolution training for students.
- Respect others and their belongings – refuse to bully others or steal personal property.
- Look for warning signs of a troubled child. Parents should listen to and talk with their children regularly to find out what is happening at school both in and out of the classroom.
- Ask administrators about safety efforts. Do they control access to the school by visitors? Are all visitors required to check in and wear appropriate badges/ID at all times?
- Request free school safety assessments to identify potential problems and upgrades needed to improve school safety measures.
- Parents should get to know their child’s friends and the friends’ parents.
About the National Crime Prevention Council
The National Crime Prevention Council is the nonprofit leader in crime prevention. For 30 years, their symbol of safety, McGruff the Crime Dog, has delivered easy-to-use crime prevention tips that protect what matters most—you, your family, and your community. Law enforcement agencies nationwide rely on our expertise to make an impact on personal safety and crime every day. For more information on how NCPC can be a public safety expert for you or how to “Take A Bite Out of Crime,” visit www.ncpc.org.
