Back to school: Teaching kids the safety basics

By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer

When 5-year-old Linden Quintal of Kapolei starts kindergarten tomorrow, his mother, Ana, wants to be sure that he will be safe at all times, including the hours after school.

Jaime Agbayani, center, of Waipahu, grandfather of Linden Quintal, left, and Jelwyn Agbayani, both 5 years old, teaches his grandchildren to watch for traffic when crossing the street. Both children, who start kindergarten tomorrow, are learning how to be "street smart" and safe as they practice walking to school with their grandfather. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"A lot of it is (telling him to) just pay attention to what's around him," said Quintal, of Kapolei.

But her fears are not unfounded. Experts say that for children, the hours between their dismissal from the supervised environment of school and the time their parents come home from work is a period of greater potential danger compared to any other time of the day. Safety is a concern especially now that thousands of children are returning to school.

"Unsupervised activities after school place youth in situations where injuries are more likely to occur," such as pedestrian accidents and playground injuries, said Therese Argoud, childhood injuries prevention coordinator of the state Department of Health's Injury Prevention Program.

The peak hours for injuries requiring an ambulance, among youngsters ages 5 to 18 on O'ahu, are 2 to 6 p.m., according to county ambulance records. It's when about 38 percent of injury-related ambulance dispatches happen.

But there are measures parents can take to help ensure child safety at all times, especially after school.

Experts say it is important for parents to go over after-school safety guidelines with their children. But Argoud also emphasized the importance of parents serving as role models for their children when it comes to safety.

"It's really a shared responsibility," Argoud said. "Parents can't advise their kids without role-modeling themselves."

Pedestrian safety guidelines

The Injury Prevention and Control Program compiled data from the state Department of Health's records and found that from 1991 to 2000, pedestrian injuries were the leading cause of deaths not from natural causes or medical conditions among 5-to-9-year olds in Hawai'i. That's why parents of children who walk to and from school need to review pedestrian safety rules with their children.

Quintal has arranged for Linden's grandfather, Jaime Agbayani, who lives across from the elementary school that Linden will attend, to walk with Linden and his 5-year-old cousin, Jelwyn Agbayani, to and from school.

While Linden will be accompanied by an adult, Quintal said it was still important for her to discuss street safety with Linden, reminding him to always look both ways before crossing the street and to hold his grandfather's hand when crossing.

The Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition/Safe Kids Hawai'i advises parents to teach their children to:

• Cross streets only at crosswalks.
• Look left, right and left again before entering a road.
• Watch for moving vehicles while crossing.
• Never run into the street.
• Wear light-colored clothing outdoors at dusk, dawn and at night.

The American Red Cross also offers tips to children who walk to and from school. These include:

• Walk with friends.
• Go directly home unless you have your parents' permission to go elsewhere.
• Never get in a car with someone, even if he or she offers you a ride or candy, asks for your help.
• If someone in a vehicle keeps following you, turn around and walk in the opposite direction.
• If you're in trouble, never hesitate to run away and ask for help.

Although the idea of leaving children home alone after school may make many parents uneasy, for some families, there are no alternatives. So parents of latch-key kids also are urged to discuss safety with their children. Tips from the American Red Cross for children who stay home alone include:

• Do not give your key to a friend or to someone else to hold for you.
• Keep the door locked.
• Have your parents write down for you who, if anyone, they should allow into the house, such as grandparents and cousins.

Parents also need to create a safe home environment. Argoud said this means making sure there are working smoke detectors in the house, locking up all poisons and keeping all firearms unloaded and locked up, with ammunition locked up somewhere else.

Dangers older teens face

Older students should follow the same pedestrian safety tips as younger children, but since many high-schoolers drive to and from school, they also need to pay attention to driving safely.

Data from the state Department of Health's records, compiled by the Injury Prevention and Control Program, showed that from 1991 to 2000, the leading cause of death among 15-to-19-year-olds in Hawai'i was vehicle crashes in which the person was an occupant of the vehicle.

Parents, therefore, need to talk to their teenagers about being responsible drivers, Argoud said, and verbally reinforce the importance of following the rules of the road. Parents should, for example, emphasize to their children not to speed and not to drink and drive, Argoud said.

Driving safely shouldn't be the only after-school concern for parents of older teenagers. A 1992 report by the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, "A Matter of Time," states that unsupervised after-school hours represent a period of significant risk because "it is a time when adolescents may engage in dangerous and even illegal activities, and is the most common time for adolescent sexual intercourse. Unsupervised young adolescents stand a greater chance of engaging in substance abuse ... (and) are also more likely to be subject to negative peer pressure."

Det. Letha DeCaires of the Honolulu Police Department, said there are several things parents can do to help teens avoid such risks. One of the most important, for example, would be for parents to tell their teens plainly that "there will be consequences for certain behaviors," DeCaires said.

She also suggests that parents encourage their children to spend time with other kids who have positive values, citing the adage: You're only as good as the company you keep. "That's very true," she said.

In addition, DeCaires said, parents should keep lines of communication open with their teens, "learning to listen more than you talk," she said, and allow their children to feel secure enough to share things with them and to say what's on their minds.

Supervised after-school activities can play a vital role in keeping pre-teens and teens away from trouble and physical dangers.

Argoud encourages parents of teens, as well as parents of younger children, to make the extra effort to ensure their children participate in safe and healthy activities with adult supervision, whether these are activities such as music lessons or organized sports, or programs at the YMCA, YWCA or the Boys & Girls Club.

Argoud also suggests having students become involved in community service organizations and programs that are peer-based and have adult mentors. Such programs, such as Teens For Safer Communities Hawai'i and Junior Lifeguards, Argoud said, can help youths develop useful skills that can prepare them for adulthood and give them a positive outlook in life.

Reach Zenaida Serrano Espanol at zespanol@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8174.