More tips for the first day of school

Here are some more useful tips for parents to make going to school easier.

Backpack Safety

Make sure you choose a backpack for your child that has padded shoulder straps and a padded back to ensure support and avoid discomfort. Do not pack your child’s bag to heavy. Make sure their backpack never weighs more than 10 or 20 per cent of their body weight. Advise them to always use both shoulder straps as slinging the bag over one shoulder could strain their muscles. Consider a rolling backpack if you feel the bag will be to heavy for your child.

Walking to school

If your home is located close enough from school for your child to walk, make sure he or she is well educated on how to keep safe at all times. If your child is still young, do not let them walk by themselves. Make sure there are older children they can walk with or walk with them yourself. If you are in a area that is infused with traffic consider creating a ‘walking club’ with more children from the neighbourhood. Be realistic about your child’s pedestrian skills – small children have the tendency to act impulsively and not cautious enough around traffic. Consider very carefully if your child is in the position to walk by him or herself before you take the risk. Also make sure you know in advance the route they will be walking .

Bullies

Every adult has the fear that their child might be the victim of a bully but if you teach your child from a early age how to stand his ground this might not be a problem. Teach your child to always look the bully in the eye and stand tall if they start picking on them to show they have self-confidence. Teach your child to have a firm response to bullies and not seem weak but also not withhold the information from an adult. Be involved in your child’s life so that you can monitor him or her on a daily basis.

Contact Information

Make sure your children knows their own and your contact information by heart. Every child should know his name and surname, as well as his parents and his address. The most important thing is that your child knows your number in the case of an emergency. This is very important information if your child gets lost somewhere.

Labeling Items

Although it is important to label your children’s items, do not label them in too obvious a place so that a stranger could call out your child’s names and misguide them that they know them. Abductions happen very easily at schools and children often feel overwhelmed and would run to anything that seems familiar even if it is just somebody calling out their name.

Details: Healthy Children and the website 10 Tips For Keeping Safe