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What can your child do to stay safe this school season? Part Two

By Oguz Ozdemir

It's that time of the year again – the kids are back in school. Whether your child is just starting school for the first time or you have a son or daughter who is moving on to a new level of school – middle or high school – each year brings its own challenges.

In the past, the main worries most children had as far as going to school was forgetting their homework, failing a test or not knowing the answer when the teacher called on them. Nowadays, a child has to first make it to school without being abducted and then making it through to the end of the day without having to deal with unexpected violence or bullying.

What can you do to help your child deal with the additional situations that come with attending school? First, work on getting them to and from school safely. If your child is young you may want to drive them to school yourself or at best, bring them to the bus stop and wait with them until they are safely in their seat.

If your child is a little older and can walk to the bus stop, make sure that he or she walks with other kids and not alone. One child walking down the street on their own has no defense and no witnesses if a car were to pull over and drag him into a stranger's vehicle.

At school, children should be aware of their surroundings and not be afraid to confide in a teacher or any other trusted adult if they see anything suspicious or unusual. It isn't unusual anymore for a child to bring a gun to school, especially in high schools. Most people are familiar with the horrific attacks that occurred across the country when a few young people decided to go on a rampage at their school.

If there is even a suspicion of any kind of violent behavior it should be reported. It is so important to talk with your child every day about how their day was as at school. If you as a parent detect any information about bullying, drugs at school, or loners who speak about bringing weapons to school, it is your duty to consult the authorities and report your findings. One of the biggest problems after a major disaster happens is finding all of the areas where actions could have been taken to prevent the incident and things just fell through the cracks.

Young children should know their address and at least their phone number in case of an emergency and older children should carry a cell phone with them at all times. Even if they are not allowed to use them during school hours, they should have them in case of an emergency.

Every step that you can take to protect your child in advance will pay off in the event of any type of unforeseen occurrence. If your child has been a victim of a crime at school contact our legal team at Napoli Bern Ripka at 1-888-LAW-IN-NY. Our lawyers have experience in school related personal injury cases.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Oguz Ozdemir

Full post as published by New York City Personal Injury Lawyer on September 09, 2009 (boomark / email).