Safety lesson for elementary students

This week I will be beginning teaching my safety lessons in all of the Kindergarten-3rd grade classrooms.  The importance of teaching basic safety skills to children empowers them with the knowledge necessary to keep themselves safe and be less fearful of the unknown.  I utilize the Kids and Company Safety Program when teaching these safety lessons in the classrooms.  It is a comprehensive program, developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, that provides children with the skills, information, self-confidence and support to prevent abduction and abuse.  Teaching these lessons allows children to feel confident and not fearful or unsure about what to do in unsafe situations.

Often children are told scary stranger stories or told of tragic consequences that have occurred which is nonproductive.  When we teach unrealistic and unreasonable rules, such as "never talk to strangers" we confuse children.  In many cases in everyday life, children interact with the very "strangers" that they may be warned against.  It is almost impossible to define a "stranger" and in the large majority of cases of abduction or abuse it involves someone the child knows.  According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children only 3% of abductions are by a person that the child does not know. Therefore, children need to learn how to make safe decisions about the people they ask for help.

The lessons I will teach focus on the following safety areas;  student's awareness of their address and phone number, the Buddy System, Check First, No-Go-Tell, the Trust Tree and Store Safety Strategies.  It is important for children to know their address, first name of their parent/guardian and a phone number (cell or home number) to reach their parent/guardian.  The Buddy System is a simple rule that teaches children to have a "buddy" with them when walking to and from places.  Use of the Buddy System is one way that children can decrease their vulnerability and feel safer.   Check First emphasizes the child's need to check with the adult in charge prior to answering the door, going out to play, changing our plans, going with someone, etc.  Checking first lets adults know where we the child is and who will be with them.  No-Go-Tell teaches children that if they are touched with a Not OK touch (punch, slap, inappropriate touch) they are to say No and immediately Go and Tell a trusted adult.  The students will spend time talking about adults in their lives that are trusted adults to talk with. This safety rule is also used in situations such as; someone you see on the street asking for your help with their lost pet, someone you see at a park asking you to go to their house, someone on the street asking you to get in your car, etc.  Lastly, the students will go over store strategies to use if they are lost or if they want to go to a different part of the store.  Students will be taught to find a store worker if lost, to stay in the store where they last saw their parent/guardian, and to always use the Buddy System.