K-12 parents stepping up communication, awareness on school safety

Parents and children need not be fearful about being safe in their school, because despite recent headline-grabbing events, schools remain one of the safest places for a child to be.

Nevertheless, back-to-school time is always a good time to give parents tips on how to make sure their child stays safe in their school, said Owen Yardley, chief of police at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

"Our best advice," Yardley said, "is for parents to tell their kids 'if you hear about it, report it. Tell someone. A counselor or teacher.'"

Schools are doing a better job of securing school buildings using measures like identification tags, door locks and weapons-detection systems, and Yardley said it's important for parents to talk to their kids about making sure they follow the security policies. Schools should have safety or security plans and policies, and Yardley said parents should ask to review these plans and be alert for evidence that security procedures are being followed.

"Many times these policies are part of a handbook that is distributed each year," Yardley said. "If parents don't see this information, they should ask for it."

Policies should outline how the building and grounds are secured, how visitors are handled, and what parents and students should do if they see something that threatens their safety or raises suspicion.

"Much of our advice involves encouraging people to be aware in their schools of things or people that 'don't belong,' such as a person who you don't know or a knife or a gun in a backpack," and then telling someone, Yardley said. Being aware of threatening behaviors and actions is something schools and parents should promote, he said.

"We know that these incidents of violence in schools do not happen in a vacuum," Yardley said. "The warning signs were there. We need to have students tell someone about them immediately."

The best thing parents can do before sending their kids back to school is to begin having those "tough conversations," as appropriate for the child's age, about dangers: what to look for, and to talk through what the child should do in some hypothetical situations.

"Talk to your kids. Tell them what isn't allowed at school," Yardley said. "Ask them what they would do if they saw something that wasn't allowed. For older kids, it's good to talk about what they would do if an intruder, with a weapon, entered their classroom. Would they fight back? Hide?"

Yardley also encourages parents of children of all ages to talk about what the children are doing on the Internet, especially on social networking sites like MySpace. He said children are far too unaware that the information they're sharing is often being looked at by someone who may try to victimize them.

"It's concerning that many parents don't know that their kids are putting up too much information, such as where they live, when they're going on vacation. Parents need to be able to view these spaces and monitor who their child is interacting with and what information they're sharing."

Tips on how to keep your child safe at school

* Know your school's safety and security policies. If you can't find the information, ask.

* Volunteer to serve on or start a parent safety committee.

* Support "Safe Home" programs that give students a place to go near school if they feel threatened, or a place where parents do not let alcohol be present.

* Make sure your kids are following safety procedures by using the correct entrances or wearing their identification.

* Talk to your kids: Do they know their exit routes? Do they practice exiting? Do any of the kids at school ever talk or act in ways that is scary to them? Would they tell their teacher?

* If your school has one, sign up for its emergency communication and warning systems that utilize today's technologies like cellular phones, texting and e-mail.

* Always report suspicious people or things to your child's school and make sure he or she knows to do the same.

* Make sure your child knows to let someone know where he or she is or is going at all times.

* Monitor your child's MySpace page, his or her instant-messaging and text-messaging activity. Don't assume that because you've told them not to do something, that they won't. If you don't know or understand the technologies they're using, get them to teach you.