Tips to keep your kids safe during the school year
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- David Liles of Fresno walks his kids to class to make sure they safely arrive. But after that, he's confident the teachers and staff can take it from there.
"They're doing a really good job about school safety and tips to let the parents know about," said Liles.
But the start of the school year can be rough if safety isn't stressed. Carlos Flores, trauma coordinator at Valley Children's Hospital says the hospital sees an increase in injuries, once kids go back to class. The most common cause?
"Oh by far, falls. Kids are falling left and right. But that's what they're supposed to be doing. We need kids to be active, playing and getting into sports," said Flores.
Flores advises parents to encourage their kids to be active which might lead to an occasional bump or bruise, but to play it safe to prevent more serious injuries.
Fresno mom Aimee Bird tells her girls to enjoy their recess but with caution. "Take it easy, take it slow, I know that they want to have fun but not necessarily so rough."
But the most serious accidents happen on the way to school. Valley Children's Hospital is the lead agency for Safe Kids Central California, a coalition dedicated to keeping kids out of the hospital trauma room. Every school year the hospital and Safe Kids, boost awareness about school-related injuries, many of which are preventable.
"It's imperative upon us as the adult as the parent, as the driver to adhere to the rules of the road it's for our kids' safety," said Flores.
That safety includes staying at least six feet away or three giant steps from the curb for school buses and never crossing behind them. "We've had very unfortunate circumstances over the last couple years where toddlers were struck by the school bus simply because they weren't seen. So if we have smaller children with us, make sure we hang onto their hands," Flores added.
Especially because that hand-holding time, goes so fast.
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Carlos Flores, Trauma Coordinator, Valley Children's Hospital
(559) 353-5989
