A Checklist For Parents

• Be sure your child knows his or her home phone number and address, your work number, the number of another trusted adult, and how to use 9-1-1 for emergencies.
• Make sure they walk to and from school with a friend, neighbor, brother, or sister.
• Make sure your child checks in with a parent or neighbor as soon as they arrive home from school. Make sure they tell you when they will being staying late at school.
• Plan a walking route to school or the bus stop. Choose the most direct way with the fewest street crossing and intersections with crossing guards. Test the route with your child. Tell him or her to stay away from parks, vacant lots, fields, and other places where there aren't many people around.
• Take time to listen carefully to your children's fears and feelings about people or places that scare them or make them feel uneasy. Tell them to trust their instincts. Take complaints about bullies and other concerns seriously.
• Teach your child never to talk to strangers or accept rides or gifts from strangers. Remember, a stranger is anyone you or your children don't know well or don't trust.
• Teach children - whether walking, biking, or riding the bus to school - to obey all traffic signals, signs, traffic officers, and safety patrols. Remind them to wear appropriate safety equipment and be extra careful in bad weather.
• When car pooling, deliver and pick up children as close to school as possible. Don't leave until they are in the school yard or building.