Back to school safety tips

As pupils go back to school on Wednesday, 15 January and the 2025 academic year begins, consider these top tips to ensure your child’s safety.

“Parents and caregivers are most certainly worried about their kids safely making it to school and back. There are, thankfully, personal security tips parents can follow to give everyone peace of mind,” said Charnel Hattingh, group head of communications and marketing at the Fidelity Services Group.

“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.”

Safety tips all children should know:

• 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. Your parents would never send someone you don’t know to fetch you

• Children must always walk to or from school with friends or join groups

• Stick to the streets you know and never take shortcuts through unfamiliar or quiet areas

• Wait inside the school grounds for pick up, not in the street

• If a stranger approaches you, do not talk to them no matter how friendly they may seem. If grabbed, fight, kick and scream

• If home alone, children must not let anyone in the house without your permission, and let them know if you are running late

• Save emergency numbers, including parent’s contacts, on their phone or near the landline

• Teach the child or caregiver how to use the home alarm system and panic buttons

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