Know these Top School Safety Tips
Unintentional injuries are the leading of death for children in the United States. A substantial portion of these accidents occur in and around the child’s school. It makes sense; more than 53 million children attend school and they spend almost a quarter of their day on school property. Parents don’t have a lot of control over preventing a school injury since their children are under alternate supervision.
Top School Safety Tips
School Buses
Despite school buses being one of the safest modes of transportation, 5,000 children are injured each year in school bus related accidents. A good percentage of school bus injuries happen when the bus is stopped and students are entering or exiting the bus. The hazard is the driver’s blind spot of about 10 feet around the bus. Younger children are particularly prone to this type of accident. In fact, half of all school-age pedestrians killed in bus-related crashes are between 5 and 7 years old. Even if your child will not be taking the school bus to or from school they need to know how to behave safely around school buses.
School bus safety tips:
- Children must be taught to wait to move toward the school bus until the bus has come to a complete stop, the doors have been opened and the driver says it’s safe to board.
- Explain and show children that they should never walk behind or close to the side of the bus because the driver may not be able to see them there.
- Children should be taught to never run across a road – even if it is to catch a school bus about to leave.
- Parents and teachers must pay extra attention and never speed when driving in a school zone and around school buses and pedestrians in case of children darting out from in front or behind of a bus.
School playgrounds
Playground injuries are the most common school-related injury among children ages 5-14. About 80 percent of the most severe playground injuries occur as the result of falls. Lack of supervision is a major factor in school playground accidents where children are less likely to be adequately supervised than in parks or childcare centers.
Playground safety tips:
- Remove hood and neck drawstrings from children’s outerwear to avoid a strangulation hazard.
- Check your child’s school playground for hazards such as rotting boards, rusty and/or broken equipment or protruding nails. Report any findings to the school or municipality.
- Check with school administration that your child will be directed to stay on age appropriate playgrounds.
School sports
About 75 percent of all school-related spinal cord injuries occur while playing sports, mostly during practice. This may be partly due to the fact that parents and coaches don’t take safety as seriously as they do during a game.
Sports safety tips:
- Before beginning a sport, each child should complete a general health exam and an orthopedic exam.
- Ensure that your children always wear appropriate, sport specific safety gear; even during practice.
- Teach your children the importance of warming up and stretching before starting an activity.
- Dehydration can lead to health concerns for young athletes. Know and teach the symptoms of dehydration: thirst, weakness, headaches and dark colored urine. Ensure that your kids have access to adequate amounts of water for the exertion they are making.
- Make sure that your child’s coach has emergency contact information along with your child’s allergies and/or medical conditions and permission to administer care such as transportation to the hospital.
If you or a loved one were injured in an accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is five to ten times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. in Bellingham, WA today for a FREE consultation! We have been representing residents of Whatcom County, Skagit County, Island County and Snohomish County since 1979. You will pay nothing up front and no attorney fees at all unless we recover damages for you!
