American Red Cross shares back-to-school safety tips for students, parents and drivers
As students prepare to return to the classroom, the American Red Cross is reminding families, teachers and motorists to take steps to help keep children safe during the back-to-school season.
The organization encourages parents to teach younger children important personal information, including their home address, phone number, how to contact a trusted adult and how to call 911 in an emergency.
The Red Cross also recommends reminding children not to talk to strangers or accept rides, gifts or invitations from people they do not know.
Students walking to school should use sidewalks whenever possible. If no sidewalk is available, they should walk facing traffic. Children should stop at every intersection, look left, right and left again before crossing, use marked crosswalks and avoid crossing between parked vehicles.
For students riding school buses, the Red Cross recommends arriving at the bus stop early, waiting a safe distance from the curb and boarding only after the bus has come to a complete stop. Children should never walk behind a school bus.
The organization also encourages children who bike to school to wear properly fitted helmets, ride with traffic and follow traffic laws.
Parents are reminded to ensure everyone in a vehicle wears a seat belt. Younger children should remain in an appropriate car seat or booster seat until the seat belt fits properly, typically when they are between 8 and 12 years old and at least 4 feet, 9 inches tall. Children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat.
The Red Cross also urges teen drivers to buckle up and avoid distracted driving by not texting, talking on the phone, eating or drinking while behind the wheel.
The organization recommends downloading its free First Aid and Emergency smartphone apps, which provide first aid guidance and severe weather alerts. Additional training opportunities include Red Cross babysitting and child care courses, as well as an online Anaphylaxis and Epinephrine Auto-Injector Training course designed for teachers and school staff.
The Red Cross is also reminding motorists to use extra caution around school buses as students return to school.
Drivers should slow down when a school bus displays flashing yellow lights, indicating it is preparing to stop. When a bus has flashing red lights and its stop arm extended, motorists traveling behind, alongside or approaching the bus must stop until the lights stop flashing, the stop arm is withdrawn and children have safely crossed or reached their destination, except where opposing traffic is separated by a physical barrier such as a grassy median or concrete divider.
