5 Ways to Teach Your Children Safety in School

The home is not the only place where kids need to be confident about their safety. The greater majority of a child’s primary upbringing is held around an educational environment. This makes it only appropriate to prioritize children safety in school next to the home. There are so many aspects around your child’s interaction with their school system that they will be involved in through these years of learning. It is extremely common for both the parents and the students to gain overwhelming amounts of stress that could be avoided if the right precautions are taught right from the start. While it should be your child’s job to focus on taking the next step in their learning process, the parents are to be thinking on the safety, health, and overall wellbeing for their kid to soak in knowledge within the best environment possible. Here are five significant guidelines our expert team at Perma Child Safety have compiled for your children to remember during their years of education.

1. Review School Policies

Knowing how a school system operates is to understand the foundations of that which will mold and develop your child for many years to come. It is of vital importance to look into how a school handles an emergency situation, what is expected of the teachers, and what particular rules are given to the students to follow. A great suggestion for keeping up with safety reviews for your child’s school is to make a record booklet with them. Once it is completed, read this with your child at the beginning of each school year to review the regulations for their school regarding visitors, emergency drills and routes, dress code, and the stance their school takes with bullying and how they should handle themselves if this unfortunate scenario should occur.

Step Up and Take Action:

Be sure there is an understanding between you and the school leaders about your most crucial concerns. If they are unable to comply, contact the administration office of the child’s school and ask for clarification. A few points that will help you get started are in the following list.

• What plans are set in place when it comes to public safety, natural disasters, or unforeseen emergencies?
• How often does the school require a review of an emergency, natural disaster, or general safety drills?
• Does the school hold zero tolerance policies for unnecessary negative behavior such as name calling or bullying?
• In what areas are visitors allowed in while on school grounds?

2. Host or Attend Regularly Scheduled Meetings with the Teachers & Administrators

In order to understand people, it is good to build an understanding of a firmly established relationship. There needs to be some sort of communication with a frequent time frame between interactions. Not only will the base understanding grow stronger, but so will the trust, and the strength of friendship. When you have a decent amount of understanding of the education department that your children are a part of you will then have a greater ability to empathize with your child and have a perspective of compassion to their struggles, fears, and everything they see as exciting. The more bonds you hold with your child the more trust and openness you may experience with them as they mature and grow. Communication is key, so if this school district doesn’t have a parent-teacher conference program already set in place then it would be good for you to take action and be sure to be in a steady following of your child’s educational acceleration and safety.

Step Up and Take Action:

There may be many things on your mind besides the important questions you have for your child’s teachers. In order to prevent the risk of losing these inquiries write out a list to bring with you to each parent-teacher conference or meetings with their administrators such as these examples.

• Have you seen any physical, emotional, or mental teasing or bullying in your class?
• Does your class participate in all required safety, emergency, or natural disaster drills?
• What is their perspective of your child’s emotional and social skills and development?
• Has my child been on time and attending all of the required classes?
• What suggestions does the teacher have for further actions you may take in assisting the assured success of your child?
• Does the school have sufficient safety procedures in place

3. Invite Your Child to Have Open Conversations Together

Respect and trust must be built up and earned with your child. This structure in a relationship comes from honesty, time, and open communication. The more honest and encouraging you are as you walk through constructive criticism with your child, the more willing and confident they will be to face their fears, dreams, apprehensions, or questions that arise throughout their lives.

Step Up and Take Action:

• A very important time of day to not take for granted is the family dinner time around the table. While you and your children share a meal is an ideal time to create open opportunities to listen to your child’s day and learn what their world is like throughout their day.
  Have you heard or seen anyone in your class treating other students badly?
• Are there any students treating you badly?
• Is your school a place you feel safe in?
• Which class would you like to stop if you had the option and why?
• What are three subjects you know you do well in?
• What classes do you enjoy learning in?
• Do you believe that your teachers and classmates are showing you respect?

4. Build Understanding and Confidence with Technology Assistance

Technology can become a touchy subject with many. There are traps in technology that you may come across, however, there are also positive aspects that have developed through technology as well. Devices that monitor your child’s safety on social media, their current physical location, and the amount that they use the internet in general. All these technological devices are focused on your child’s safety. Learning about the up-and-coming child safety devices that come through the market will keep your kid within the safest available boundaries available to modern times.

Step Up and Take Action:

There is so much an electronic device can help with so long as the requirements stay within a certain frame. No matter how advanced technology becomes it is still not perfect and should be monitored to keep in touch with the safety precautions that are best for your child. Some suggestions for taking this step of action are as follows:

• Block all inappropriate websites with filters that are specifically designed to scan and sort websites based on content.
• Browse through online shops for the latest technology in safety for children.
• Study the components of the newest electronic safety devices, such as wearable tech devices, and thoroughly check their reviews and effectiveness through many different circumstances and environments.
• Find parental control apps and add them to your phone and other electronic devices so that you may be well aware of your child’s activity on the web.

5. Seek Confirmation of Your Child’s Records Being Up to Date

Schools have so many students to attend to that there is no way they will be able to keep up with every single child and the way that they change and develop over time. By keeping your child’s health, emergency, and personal records in the school files as current as possible you may be preventing some potentially dangerous outcomes. It is a common occurrence for children to change in many ways through these crucial years of upbringing. Habits develop, allergies may start or stop, and the people that you entrust to care for your children may move or may no longer be able or willing to share the privilege of caring for your child. All these changes could result in some unfortunate mishaps if not properly attended to on a regular basis so that the teachers and leaders of your child’s school may have the proper tools needed to bless your child with the holistic care that they deserve.

Step up and Take Action:

By taking a couple hours at the beginning of each school year to review the school’s requirements with your child provides them with the opportunity to step up to the plate and take responsibility for their behavior and have an understanding of what is expected of them. If children have a firm understanding of what is expected of them they will feel more secure and ready to step up to their fullest potential. The more clarity you provide for your child the more stable their foundation for growth will be which will lead to a safer lifestyle for them in the long run. Here are some critical details to consider sharing and memorizing with your child and to keep in their school’s file system.

• Who do you wish to have as emergency contacts for your child and what is their contact information?
• Besides your list of emergency contacts, who are the other approved family members or friends who may visit or pick up your child from school?
• What dietary restrictions or allergies does your child have, if any?
• What medications does your child need to take on a regular basis, if any?
• Are there any disabilities or illnesses that your child may be susceptible to or that you have a suspicion that they may be developing?

It is crucial to remember that the responsibility of being fully aware of your child’s safety goes beyond these five tips. If you ever come to the point of being concerned for your the security or well-being of your child within their school it is of the uttermost importance to bring this concern to the administrative department in your child’s school. If there are changes you want to see in the school system, yet there are no visible actions regarding this desired development then perhaps the best course of action for you to take is to join the PTA. The concerns you may have may stem from anything such as school policies, a question of bullies in the classroom or on the playground, or even a change in the cafeteria menu.

No matter how small the change is that you hope to see at your child’s school, it is important to step up and do something about the change you want to see. All these factors, small and large, will somehow be a part of your child’s molding and development which makes the task of speaking up no small or insignificant feat. Your child’s healthy development is largely dependant upon the attention you give to the environment of safety that you are ready and willing to create in preparation for their path of life.