Fidelity ADT provides back-to-school safety tips

Fidelity ADT has shared useful back-to-school safety tips to keep children safe.

This is in light of the announcement made by the Department of Basic Education confirming that schools will now resume on February 15 due to the revised school calendar.

Charnel Hattingh, Fidelity ADT’s head of marketing and communications, said parents and caregivers may feel some dread, especially during this time of Covid-19.

“While at school, your children will follow the regulated PPE processes, but there are personal security tips we believe parents can follow to make a difference in the safety of their children. It boils down to making sure your children know exactly how to avoid possible danger, and also what they must do in case something bad happens to them,” she said.

Safety tips

• Children must always walk to or from school with a friend or friends. If your child walks alone, it’s a good idea to ask a teacher or other parents if they know of other children from the area who do the same. Some towns have started ‘walking buses’, where local parents volunteer to walk to-and-from school with a group of schoolchildren to assure their safety.

• Children should stick to streets they know and never take shortcuts through unfamiliar or quiet areas.

• If you are picked up at school, you should always wait inside the grounds for your lift to arrive and not leave the premises to go and look for your lift in the street.

• Remember, your parents would never send someone you don’t know to fetch you. Never get into a stranger’s car even if they claim someone you love is hurt and that they are supposed to pick you up. It is a good idea to consider using a password system to ensure the person collecting you is in fact a friend of your parents or someone you can trust.

• If a stranger approaches you, do not talk to them no matter how friendly they may seem. If someone tries to grab you, fight, kick and scream that they are not your mom or dad.

• In some cases, children have to see themselves to and from school and keep occupied until parents return home in the evening.

• Drawing up a list of important telephone numbers is essential. This list must include emergency services and work and cellphone numbers of both parents. Save it on your child’s cellphone and stick it on or near the landline. It’s also important to explain to them when these should be used.

• It is extremely important that children know not to let anyone into the house without the parent’s permission. If you are going to be late, let your children know as soon as possible and give them an idea of when they can expect you to be home.

• Everyone in the household should also know how to use your home security system, children included, and when and how to use the panic buttons.