Dear Neighbor,
School is starting and preparing our children for the new school year often
means new clothes, sneakers, backpacks and notebooks. It’s also important
to ensure kids have the information they need to cope with any dangerous
situation they may find themselves in. I have included a list of safety tips
specifically for school-age children. They may never need them, but it is
always better to be safe than sorry.
Teaching these simple safety tips will help ensure that our children have a
happy, healthy and, most importantly, safe school year.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Cusick
Member of Assembly
Memorize
the basics
Make sure your children know their full name, address, phone number with area code,
and parents’ names. Also teach them how to reach you in an emergency and how to
dial 911 from a pay phone.
Safe
strangers
From an early age, teach children to ask for help when they are lost or frightened.
For instance, uniformed police officers, a clerk in a store or a mother with children
are safer choices.
Where are
your children?
Before your children leave the house, make sure you know where
they’re going, who will be with them, how they’ll get there and when
they’ll be back.
The buddy
system
Never let your children go anywhere alone. Remind them that there is safety in numbers.
Operation Safe Child
Statistics show that 34 percent of parents in the United States do not know their child’s exact
height, weight and eye color. Possessing up-to-date photographs and detailed information about
a child can greatly assist local law enforcement officials in quickly responding to a child’s
disappearance.
Parents can get a Safe Child Card made, which includes the child’s name, date of birth, gender,
height, weight, hair and eye color, and fingerprints. The card can be made in less than two minutes
and is easily carried in a wallet. For more information, visit
www.operationsafechild.org.
Student Driving Safety
As a parent, you might feel helpless knowing your teen is out on the road. You can’t always be in
the car monitoring every move, but there are several measures you can take to enforce safe driving
practices to set your mind at ease:
-
Mandate and enforce seat belt use
-
Minimize distractions for the driver
-
Follow the law — only two passengers under the age of
21 are allowed in the car unless they are immediatefamily members. Beginning in late
February 2010, the number of allowable passengers falls to one
-
Forbid the use of cell phones, texting or otherhand-held electronic devices while driving
-
Set a good example when you drive
Vaccines for Children
The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides immunizations to children who may not have
access otherwise. Children up to 18 years old are eligible for VFC if they are:
Several vaccinations are covered under the program, including polio, tetanus, flu,
measles and chickenpox. For more information on VFC, visit
www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/parents.
In addition, the H1N1 flu vaccine is expected to be available in the fall. For the latest
information, visit
www.nyhealth.gov/diseases/communicable/influenza/h1n1.
