With kids heading back to school in the coming weeks, I’ve been continually trying to keep an eye out for safety tips for students, parents and teachers. As a Charleston personal injury lawyer, I came across these tips that I thought would be useful. According to news reports:
If your child will be walking or riding a bicycle to school:
• Teach your child to obey all traffic signals and signs and to look left, then right, then left again for moving vehicles before he or she crosses the street orintersection and to never dart into the street from behind objects, such as bushes or parked cars.
• Make sure your child knows to look out for cars because even though adults in cars should be sure to look out for children while driving through school zones, this does not always happen.
Don’t allow your child to wear headphones or play hand-held video games while walking to school.
• If you drop your child off at school, stay until he or she makes it in the building. Don’t feel pressured to drive off just because other cars are waiting.
• If your child is riding a bike, make sure he or she wears a helmet that meets safety standards.
• Map out his or her route to school before the first day. Make sure you know who lives along your child’s path to school.
Parents can visit the local police station to see if there are any registered sex offenders along their child’s route.
Other safety issues to consider when sending your child back to school include:
• Buy jackets and sweatshirts without a drawstring around the neck or hood. Drawstrings can get caught in car or school bus doors or on playground equipment.
• Check playground surfaces at your child’s school to make sure there is a 12-inch depth of wood chips or other padding.
• If your child rides a school bus, make sure he or she knows to remain seated at all times, to keep the aisles clear, to not throw objects, to not shout or distract the driver and to keep his or her hands and arms inside of the bus.
And teach your child the driver has a blind spot and to be careful when boarding or exiting the bus.
• Teach your child to resolve problems without fighting. Talk with your child about other ways to work out problems, such as talking about the problem, walking away from the problem or telling an adult.
• Ask your child’s school if the computer equipment is monitored and if computers are equipped to block access to explicit sites.
• Find out about safety and emergency plans in your child’s school.
Check your child’s school for potential hazards, and make sure the school’s administration is aware of any problems.
While we don’t handle this kind of personal injury case we feel that it’s important to educate the community to help protect their health and safety. If you have been injured by a school bus accident, you might wish to contact a Charleston personal injury lawyer who can help.
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