17 School Safety Tips for Your Big Kid

With the school year having opened in full swing, parents and kids should make it a point to practice safety procedures in school and outside it.  To give us an idea on what to do to keep our big kids safe in school, here are some helpful tips from Beth Bermio, the Traffic Safety and Security Coordinator for the Ateneo Grade School in Loyola heights, Quezon City:

1. Your child should know how to identify himself – As soon as he is old enough to do so, your child should be able to say his full name and address (mnemonics, a song or a game can help them remember).  Have him memorize it or have it on his person as a card, bag tag or ID tag.  His knowing his mother’s maiden name is extremely helpful.

2. Register your yaya, sundo, driver, bodyguard or relative with the school so the school knows who is authorized to take your child home after class.  If no such procedure exists with your school, it’s a good idea to bring it up at the next PTA meeting.

3. Don’t be too friendly to strangers – If a yaya no longer works with the family (especially if the parting wasn’t amicable), the parents should make it clear to the child that that person is no longer part of the household.  You must also inform the school so that the former yaya will not have easy access to entering the school or your child.  Teach the child to ask “why” when an adult wants them to deviate from a routine when it comes to going home.

4. Let your child identify his or her yaya - When a child is about to leave and is heading for the waiting area where her yaya or sundo is, she should call out the name of that person to identify the yaya.

5. They should know the right numbers - Teach your kids to memorize your cellphone number and landline numbers (use the memorization tips in no.1.).  Also they should have coins or phonecards and they should know how to use public phones.

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Read on for more school safety tips for your big kid.

6. They should know your car – Familiarize your child with your car’s color, model and plate number, especially if you own a lot of vehicles.  This tip will come in handy for children who are fond of toy cars.

7. Sharp objects can be harmful - Teach kids how to properly hold a knife (start with a butter knife or bread knife) or scissors, especially when passing them to another person.  Also applicable to eating things with barbeque sticks.  Don’t run with scissors or other pointy objects.  Take note that kids get especially excited with food on sticks like fish balls and banana-cue.

8. Get your child to talk – Prompt your child to share what he experiences after school so you know if your child took any detours before going home with the yaya, driver or their Tito Boy.  

9. Bus service – Introduce the child to the bus driver and conductor so if the child gets left in school, the child can tell the school authorities who his bus driver is.

10. Safety procedures - Children should know where the exits are in the home and school in the event of a fire, earthquake or other emergency.  Also teach the kids how to use speed dials and emergency numbers (police, fire, nearest hospital, etc.).

11. Security guards can assist - If there is no teacher in school who they can approach for help regarding anything, your children shouldn’t be afraid to ask the campus security guard.  It’s their job to assist.  

12. No guns allowed - For families that use or require them, firearms should never be displayed outside the vehicle on campus.  Even for parents who are soldiers, policemen, they should not bring in their guns to their children’s school.

13. Car safety - When riding a car, your child should not stick out his hand or head out of the window or door.  Also, keep cars child locked and your kids buckled up when driving to and from school (and everywhere else).

Click here to read more school safety tips for your big kid.

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Read on for more school safety tips for your big kid.

14. Use sidewalks and pedestrian lanes - This goes for parents as well as kids.  Kids should also learn to play in the playground or the basketball court, not in the sidewalk or street.  When they walk on the sidewalk, they should stay closer to the inner side (away from the edge of the sidewalk).  Let the parent or yaya stay beside the child on the outer edge.

15. Math helps - Teach your child a bit or two about basic math when they go buy food at a canteen or kiosk.  That way, they learn to ask for change and count it to see if it is correct.  For younger children, make sure that whoever holds the money for the child’s baon gives you receipts or an exact accounting of the child’s expenditures.

16. Make them visible while crossing - When a child crosses the street, she should keep one hand raised so people in tall vehicles like trucks and SUVs can see her.

17. Cooperate with the school – Work closely with your child’s school and keep them informed, especially if the parents have problems (custody battle, physically abusive parents, etc.).  The school should be made aware if such a predicament exists so as to keep the kids safe and so the school may also know it’s boundaries in relation to the child and her parents.