Top Ten Lessons to Teach Your Children Before They Go Back to School

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QUINCY, Mass., Aug. 27 -- It's back-to-school time and many parents are breathing a sigh of relief that their children made it through another summer unscathed by play-time injuries. But kids aren't "out of the woods" yet, and with school just around the corner, the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) urges parents and other caregivers to spend time talking with children about ways they can protect themselves from other risks on the way to and from, and at the school yard.

"For some children, this September will be their first school year and that brings with it new risks the children have not faced before," says Meri-KAppy, vice president for public education at NFPA. "No matter what their age, children heading back to school should know how to prevent passenger, bike and pedestrian injuries; falls; poisoning; choking and strangulation; and fire and burn injuries."

Appy recommends children learn NFPA's top 10 lessons for safety before heading back to the classroom. The lessons are based on NFPA's new RiskWatch(TM) curriculum, the first and only comprehensive injury prevention curriculum available throughout North America for classroom use.

Back-to-School Time is Time for Risk Watch™ Teach children these top 10 back-to-school safety lessons from NFPA:

• Always buckle-up when riding in the car; children 12 and under should ride in the back seat.
• Stay in your seat when riding on a bus and hold on to bus handrails when getting on and off a bus.
• When waiting for a bus, stay at least five giant steps (10 feet/3meters) from the curb until the bus has completely stopped.
• Wear a helmet every time you ride your bicycle and make sure the helmet fits correctly.
• Always walk your bicycle when you need to cross a street.
• Use crosswalks for crossing streets and remember to look left, right, left before crossing. (Children under 10 should cross with the assistance of a grown-up.)
• No pushing or shoving anyone when lining up or playing on school grounds.
• At lunch time, stay seated while eating; no running or playing.
• Never accept medicine, vitamins, candy or other food from anyone other than your parent or caregiver.
• When the fire alarm sounds, stop what you are doing and immediately exit the school. Once you are outside, go quickly to your meeting place for roll call.

"Too often, we think of childhood injuries as inevitable -- as 'accidents'-- but that fatalistic philosophy leads to needless injuries for our children," explains Ms. Appy. "We firmly believe that children can beat the odds of injury if they are taught to recognize risks as preventable and are taught simple ways to avoid them. That incorporates knowledge, safe decision-making and practice. These are skills children as young as preschoolers are capable of acquiring with the proper guidance." The Risk Watch curriculum is now available for preschool through grade 8 classrooms in schools in North America. The curriculum addresses the eight leading risk areas for children 14 and under.

In addition to the broad areas from which the Top 10 Tips are taken, Risk Watch also teaches firearms injury prevention and water safety. Parents and other caregivers can receive a free brochure on using Risk Watch lessons in the home by calling toll-free 1-800-SAFE HOME.

The National Fire Protection Association has led the way to fire safety since 1896. The mission of the international nonprofit organization is to reduce the burden of fire on the quality of life by advocating scientifically based consensus codes and standards, research, and education for fire and related safety issues. The Association publishes a wide variety of educational and safety materials, including the National Fire Codes(R), and is developer of the Risk Watch™ comprehensive injury prevention curriculum and the Learn Not to Burn (R) fire safety curriculum. NFPA headquarters is in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. Visit the Public Affairs Media Access page on NFPA's web site at http://www.nfpa.org and NFPA's educational web site at http://www.sparky.org.

CONTACT: Julie Reynolds or Susan McKelvey of NFPA Public Affairs Office, 617-984-7275