Police urge parents and educators to champion children’s safety
Included are safety tips for parents, guardians, and caregivers as children begin the new academic year.
AS the 2022 academic year commences, parents, guardians, and caregivers will have less control over the movement of their children.
In a bid to keep children safe, the police issued out a reminder to condition parents on aspects of safety for when they are not under their supervision.
Captain Louise le Roux of Brighton Beach police, said the pro-active guidelines provided will assist those responsible for the care, protection and safety of children in minimising the risk of children finding themselves in unsafe spaces and situations.
•Ensure that children are aware of the route to follow when making their way to and from school. Instruct your child not to deviate from the route. Children must be instructed not to take shortcuts through parks, sports fields, vacant buildings or staircases.
•Instruct your child to not loiter at malls, shopping centres, tuck shops or sports grounds before entering or after exiting the school premises.
•Instruct your child to not talk to, walk with, take teats, novelties or monies from persons known and unknown to them on route to and from school.
•Instruct your child not to take lifts from strangers. This also applies to people they know without prior permission.
•Mentor your child not to divulge any personal information to a stranger person.
•Educate your child on the risk of entering into cyberspaces, engaging with strangers revealing personal information about themselves and providing photo images, especially in their school uniform.
•Parents and learners must familiarize themselves with the school’s cell phone policy. From the age of 10yrs children have criminal capacity. The use of mobile devices to orchestrate crimes within and outside school premises will lead to criminal prosecution. Children will also be subject to a tribunal, and face suspension.
•Ensure that the mode of transport used by children conforms to the Road Traffic Act, such as the driver having a valid public driver’s permit, driver’s license and that the mode of transport is roadworthy.
•Educate junior and senior primary learners to use the pedestrian crossings when making their way to and from school. Mentor them to adhere to the light signals of the traffic lights. Mentor them on when it is safe to cross the road (green), when to be cautious (yellow) and when not to cross (red).
•Children must be mentored to remain seated on the school bus while in movement. Only upon the bus coming to a halt, the child must get up and move to the door to exit, only upon the bus is stationary. Those using vehicles must ensure that children are buckled-up.
•Children must be encouraged to report reckless driving and overloading to their parents and educator. Parents must ensure that, if their children are consuming medication, especially scheduled medication that a letter accompanies the child to school, that the school is contacted and that the medication is handed in to the front office. Children are not permitted to have any form of medication on their person or in school bags. Only appointed educators may administer scheduled and over the counter medication to learners. Pupils are not permitted to administer medication to each other.
•Ensure that you have a current photo of your child. This will help the police track and trace your child, should he/ she get abducted, missing in a public place or have run away from home.
•Ensure that parents/guardians or caregiver/s current information are updated on school records. The school and police have difficulty in tracing parents in cases of emergency, cell phone numbers, work contact details, as well as home and work addresses, are outdated.
•Have a name list of your child’s friends, their contact details and that of their parents. These contacts can assist the police should your child be abducted or run away from home.
•Conduct random checks on school bags and cupboards/drawers for signs of drug use (lighters/ matches/ dagga seeds/ leaves etc.). Smell their uniform or clothes before washing them for signs of smoking (cigarettes/ dagga). Watch for symptoms that may be possible indicators of use/ abuse.
•Do not let your child sleep/attend a party with people that you have not met. Meet the host parent/s in person. •Be aware of the places he/she visits and the company he/she keeps. Children often get involved in criminal activities such as fitting in with a group/person to be accepted.
The SAPS also appeals to governing bodies, principals and staff of educational institutes to mentor these guidelines on a continuous basis to learners during assembly and classroom interaction. Together we can create safer school spaces for children during 2022.
