Tips for staying safe while participating in after-school activities…
- If your child participates in an after school activity, determine that the adults supervising and participating in the program have undergone background checks. Request a copy of the the program’s policies and procedures and make sure that the program addresses one on one adult-child interactions and outside the program contact. Look to see what the social media policies are and how they are enforced.
- Make sure the program has all necessary medical information about your child and is prepared in the event of a medical emergency, such as an allergic reaction.
- Make sure to nail down an alternate plan in the event the activity is canceled.
- Familiarize yourself with policies on dealing emergency situations, especially if the program is a sports team. provide up to date emergency contact information. Make sure the program and your child knows who has permission to pick up the child from the program. If you have a custody order, or a Protective Order, make sure the program has a certified copy of that order.
Preparing for emergency situations such as lockdowns, evacuations, and bomb threats…
- When schools unexpectedly dismiss students early because of weather, electrical outages or safety concerns, it might be difficult to pick-up your child on short notice due to work demands or a long commute. Provide another adult written permission ahead of time to pick your child up and coordinate with you.
- Check that the school and all after school activities have a list of adults to contact if the school cannot reach you immediately in an emergency situation. Make sure you have reviewed the list with your child when age appropriate.
- Review school emergency policies. If the school has an emergency alert system, sign up to receive automatic text messages, emails, or phone calls.
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