Stay safe this school year

With students returning to school, the Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are reminding caregivers to speak to their children about the importance of staying safe.

Police suggest caregivers:

- survey their neighbourhood for obvious hazards or dangerous areas, and discuss the dangers of these types of locations, including abandoned buildings, construction sites or difficult intersections;

- develop an anticipated travel route to and from school, and have the child call if they plan to deviate from the expected route;

- encourage the child to use the buddy system, and travel to school with someone else, remembering there is safety in numbers;

- talk about who a stranger is, and also the people their children can trust;

- report any suspicious vehicles or activity to police immediately, and if possible, provide a description of the vehicle and/or occupants; and

- advise that if someone the child doesn’t know approaches them, to say “no thank you,” get to a safe place (school, home, etc.), and immediately tell an adult that they trust.

For additional community safety information, visit www.opp.ca community issues, for helpful links, and personal safety tip sheets.