School Safety Week Tips

The following article - thanks to:
Everything Elementary

Help keep your students safe! Dedicate a week to raising their safety awareness and reminding them of basic safety precautions. National SAFE KIDS Week  gives you a perfect chance to schedule activities and lessons around this crucial subject.

There are many ways to approach the topic of safety. You may choose to focus on one topic for the whole week or mix and match topics throughout the week. Here are just a few possibilities:

School Safety
This topic could include bus, hallway, playground, and even weapon safety.

• Invite a bus driver to talk about measures he/she takes and that the students should take to ensure safety on the bus.
• Point out the dangers of running in hallways. Designate line leaders to help be responsible for hallway safety.
• The playground holds many potential hazards for children! Remind your students of playground rules and create a rotating list of students to serve on a "safety patrol." We even have Safety Patrol Pins to set these students apart!

Street Safety
Seat belts, bike riding, and street crossing are a few areas involving street safety.

• Seat belts save lives! Encourage your students to wear their seat belts all the time - no matter what! A startling number of accidents occur less than five miles from home.
• Kids love to ride bikes. Make sure they know the importance of wearing their helmets and riding safety in traffic. Hold a "safe bike clinic" where the students can bring in their bikes for a safety check-up by your local police department.
• Review precautions students should take before crossing the street.

Fire Safety
Teach your student the proper procedures for preventing home and school fires.

• Take a field trip to your local fire department. Ask the firemen to show the students around, discuss their jobs, give tips on preventing home fires, and allow the students a peak inside a fire truck!
• Show the students where the school fire extinguishers are. If they are old enough, have a firefighter or the principal show them how to use it.
• Schedule a school-wide fire drill.
• Hand out a list of steps to preventing a fire and what to do in case of a fire. Remember the old "Stop, Drop, and Roll!" Print the number of the local fire department at the bottom of the list.

Personal Safety
Encourage your students to be aware of potential dangers that surround them daily!

• Invite the school nurse in to discuss health hazards that children face in schools - such as colds, lice, and the flu - and ways to avoid them (wash hands, don't share drinks/combs, get flu shots). If you have time, have the nurse give each child a general check-up, too!
• Take a trip to the police department or ask a policeman to visit. Discuss the dangers of talking to strangers and the precautions to take against kidnappers.
• Create a list of "little" safety tips - not running with scissors, not playing with matches - and give to all your students. Write the tips on a banner and place on your door or wall as well!

At the end of your Safety Week, hold a fun "safety certification" ceremony for your students! Give little Pins, Medals or Certificates to all the children, or just those who pass some sort of safety quiz. Announce the ceremony at the beginning of the week to give your students something to look forward to.