5 Tips to Help Your Child Safely Walk to School (& Photo Contest!)

Interested in Prisma Health’s photo contest and being featured on Kidding Around Greenville? Scroll down to enter! Thank you to Prisma Health for sponsoring this article and photo contest.

Many parents can remember long walks to school or riding the bus. Today, those living in sprawling neighborhoods without sidewalks may feel like walking to school isn’t a safe choice for their child, even if school is just a short distance away. There are ways to ensure your child or teen can walk to school, head to the park or to a friend’s house, on foot, without worry!

As a parent, you may have a few initial questions before allowing your child to walk alone. Prisma Health Pediatrician Lauren Clayton, MD, is here to answer your questions and provide 5 tips to get you started!

How dangerous is walking alone? “Walking to school is a great way to get in some of the daily physical activity that is recommended for good heart health,” said Dr. Clayton. “It is important, though, to follow simple safety rules to keep the risk of injury low.”

How high is the risk of injury? Unintentional pedestrian injuries – like getting hit by a car while walking across or down the street – are the fifth leading cause of injury-related death in the USA for children aged 5 to 19. Teenagers are at a significantly higher risk than younger children, although that might be simply because they’re more likely to be out walking without parental supervision.

If school is a short distance away and it’s walkable, there are ways to make your child’s trip to school safer and lessen the chance of serious injury.

Tip #1: Make sure your child knows to look both ways…twice.

Nearly every parent has told their children look both ways before crossing the street, but it’s worth it to reinforce this rule, and even to ask them to take a second look before they cross. Even as they begin walking, your child should take care to keep checking left and right as they walk.

Tip #2: Stick to the sidewalk whenever possible.

The walk to school is safest when children and teens stay to the sidewalk, and only cross at street corners with marked crosswalks and traffic signals if possible. If there are no traffic signals, common in smaller, more rural communities, your child should walk while facing traffic and stay as far to the left as possible.

Tip #3: Take out earbuds and put away phones.

It makes sense your child or teen might want to listen to music on the way to school – how many of us listen to music or radio while driving the car? But wearing headphones, looking at phones or having a phone conversation is distracting and dangerous while walking. Remind your child of the importance of being aware of their environment at all times.

Tip #4: If they’re under 10, make sure they cross the street with an adult.

Every child is different, with some maturing emotionally or physically earlier than others, but most kids simply aren’t able to safely judge the speed or distance of oncoming cars before the age of 10.

Tip #5: Be a good role model.

For kids and teens, what their parents or guardians do often matters far more than what they say when it comes to modeling safe behavior. If you routinely cross the street when the crosswalk light is a red hand, you may be unintentionally teaching your child that it isn’t important to follow pedestrian traffic rules. Set a good example by putting your phone down while driving or walking around cars, following traffic signals and staying aware of your environment.

Extra Tip: Embrace bright colors.

“You might also consider asking your child to wear a very brightly colored jacket, or buying a backpack with reflectors in order to increase how visible they are to passing vehicles,” said Dr. Clayton. “Reflectors can also be purchased on their own to add to the backpack if you already own one.”

For additional school safety tips from Prisma Health, check out these backpack safety tips.

Back-to-School Photo Contest

One Kidding Around reader’s winning photo will be featured on Kidding Around Greenville!

How To Enter: Take a back-to-school photo of your family prepping for the new school year, heading to the first day or even celebrating a successful first day and upload it in the form below. To increase your chances of being a featured photo, submit one photo per day! Featured photo will be selected randomly. Photo contest runs from August 2 – August 16, 2024, 11:59PM. Good luck!

Terms & Conditions

• By submitting a photo, you agree the photo is yours to share, you are the parent/guardian of any minors in the photo, and that permission is granted to Prisma Health and Kidding Around Greenville to use the photo on social media.
• Featured photo is randomly selected.
• You must be 18 or older and live in the USA to enter this photo contest.
• You must use a valid email address to enter this photo contest.
• One entry per person per day.
• The featured photo will be announced via a Kidding Around Greenville Facebook and Instagram post within four [4] days of the photo contest ending.
• For a complete list of Kidding Around Greenville SC’s policies and terms and conditions, see the Kidding Around Greenville SC policy page. By entering this photo contest, you agree to comply with Kidding Around Greenville SC’s terms and conditions.
• If you have any issues with the photo contest not appearing, please contact bethany@kiddingaroundgreenville.com.

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Prisma Health is a private nonprofit health company and the largest health care organization in South Carolina. The company has 29,309 team members, 18 acute and specialty hospitals, 2,827 licensed beds, 320 practice sites, and more than 5,400 employed and independent clinicians across its clinically integrated inVio Health Network. Along with this innovative network, Prisma Health serves more than 1.5 million unique patients annually in its 21-county market area that covers 50% of South Carolina.