Top 7 Back to School Safety Tips

It’s unbelievable to think that school starts so soon. Where did the summer go? School supplies have filled store shelves for weeks, and August is Back to School Safety Month.

If school isn’t already back in session, it will be within the next 3 to 4 weeks; the school bell will ring and parents will once again scramble to get the kids out the door on time. For working parents, taking the kids to school and picking them up can be a scheduling nightmare, and sometimes it’s just impossible. That means kids may be leaving home on their own or arriving home to an empty house.

Here are a few tips to keep your kids safe before and after school:

1. Find another child in the neighborhood with whom your child can walk to school or ride with on the bus. Find a safe place where the kids can wait for the bus, away from traffic and off the street.

2. If your child walks to school, consider starting a “walking school bus,” in which an adult accompanies a group of neighborhood children walking to school.

3. Be sure your child has a list of phone numbers of people to call if they can’t reach. Put it on their cell phone or on a card they can carry in their backpack or wallet. Post emergency numbers by your home telephone.

4. If alternate adult supervision is not available, make special efforts to supervise your children from a distance. Consider using a home monitoring camera to check in on them.

5. Children should have a set time to arrive home and should check in with a neighbor or with a parent when they do. Wireless locks can notify you wherever you are when your front door is opened.

6. Make sure your children know to keep the doors locked when they are home alone.

7. Set guidelines on who they can have over (if anyone) and what they are allowed to do, such as watch television or use the stove. Use a home monitoring system to see if they’re following the rules.

Remote home monitoring offers peace of mind for many parents during the school year and anytime. Home monitoring cameras that can be viewed remotely from a cell phone or computer let parents check in on their kids to be sure they’re safe and doing what they’re supposed to do. Schlage LiNK home automation system starter kit comes with remote home monitoring camera and wireless door locks that you can program to open at certain times as well as notify you when they are opened.