Homesecurity.org has put together a fantastic list of reliable online resources to help address parents’ concerns. Everyday, students the world over deal with a host of security and safety issues, including bullying, nutritional shortages and sexual abuse. The following is an informative list of links to organizations, companies and newsletters that specifically deal with security issues that children K-12 experience on a daily basis:
Bullying
- Bullying: Based in the UK, this website provides universal tips for parents and children dealing with bullying. As the site explains, bullying is hardly limited to school. Kids lives can be affected at anytime, thanks in part to the growth of online harassment.
- BullyPolice.org: BullyPolice is an organization that reports on state anti-bullying laws, as well the success of advocacy efforts intended to improve the lives of bullied children.
- Committee for Children: Committee for Children is a nonprofit organization that promotes social-emotional learning and advocates for the prevention of bullying, child abuse and youth violence through education.
- Scared Of School: Scared of School offers information to parents and children on school phobias and bullying. It also provides support forums for students who are afraid of school due to bullying.
- Family Education, School Safety Center: Family Education provides parents with information and resources that help them take active roles in protecting their children from youth violence.
- Young People, Children and Bullying: This website provides information and an ongoing discussion on the common targets of bullying. It then takes a hard look at what to do about bullying problems and what resources to use when bullying occurs.
Transportation Safety
- Charlestown Road Safety: This blog documents efforts by local residents who strive to make their roads safe for school buses, children and pedestrians.
- Active & Safe, Green Communities Active & Safe Routes to School (ASRTS): A creative and ambitious project, Active and Safe’s Green Communities promotes safety, physical activity and environmentally sustainable transportation to and from school. The website also provides information on specific programs for schools and communities.
- Traffic Safety Corp.: Traffic Safety Corp. provides flashing lights and public safety signs that warn motorists of pedestrians, especially children and the handicapped.
- Transportation Safety Products: Transportation Safety Products provides information on children safety devices, which includes a voice alarm for school buses that helps to insure children safety.
- West County Transportation Agency: West County Transportation Agency provides school bus safety tips, information on services, as well as helpful contact numbers.
Nutrition and Dietary Considerations
- Diet and Nutrition Guide for Children: This website provides information on the children’s food pyramid, teaching them how to correctly read nutrition labels.
- Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children: The Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children lists ways to improve diets in children aged two to six. It also features simple educational messages that focus on children’s food preferences and nutritional requirements.
- Nutrition For Teen Athletes: Nutrition For Teen Athletes provides recommended caloric amounts, fluid needs and a sample diet guide specifically catered for student athletes.
- Teen Health and Teen Diet Program: The Teen Health and Teen Diet site provides parents and teens with free healthy living and diet programs created just for teens.
- Vegetarian Diets for Children, Right from the Start: This is a nutritional guide for young children (from infants to pre-teens) that includes descriptions of food groups and serving recommendations.
- Women, Infants and Children (WIC): WIC offers a food and nutrition service program to low-income women, infants, and children up to age five who are at risk. This government-based organization also provides nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and health care referrals.
Talking to Strangers
- Break and Run, For Kids: This website offers information on safety precautions that help prevent child abduction. The site also comes with a video that serves as a great teaching tool.
- Kids Fighting Chance: This online video is designed to provide school aged children with empowering, practical and effective ways to escape an aggressor or abductor.
- Impact Personal Safety: Impact Personal Safety offers personal safety and leadership training to adults and teens at training centers, schools, corporations, camps and community centers.
Additional Resources
- American School Health Association: American School Health Association is a multidisciplinary organization of professionals who are “committed to safeguarding the health of school-aged children.”
- Child Safety Network: The Child Safety Network provides a range of free tools and information to help parents keep their children safe.
- Children Online: Children Online offers a variety of presentations and programs for schools, students and parents, on subjects such as online safety issues and harassment.
- Safety Tots: This website provides educational aids that teach children how to safely react to daily scenarios.
Find more back-to-school tips for military families on Spouselink.
