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Schools & Child Care

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Personal Safety and Injury Prevention in Schools

Promoting personal safety and injury prevention in schools

Unintentional injuries are the number one cause of hospitalization and death for school aged children. Supervision, setting rules and recognizing children’s developmental stages are key to reducing common school injuries.

Intentional injuries, such as self-harm and suicide, are the number one cause of death for 10-to-19-year old’s, in Simcoe Muskoka. Schools are an ideal place for positive mental health promotion and suicide prevention.

Use the sample activities below to help incorporate personal safety and injury prevention into your school We can help you to incorporate the sample activities below related to personal safety and injury prevention into your school action plan and/or to engage students, staff, families and community partners to come up with ideas of your own:

Click the links below for suggested lesson plans, curriculum supports, health unit programs and additional resources:
  • Create opportunities for peer-to-peer teaching about topics such as: bullying, road safety, concussions, sun safety.
  • Offer peer mentoring strategies to promote school connectedness.
  • Provide education and encourage proper use of safety equipment for all sports.
  • Conduct ongoing maintenance of school equipment and infrastructure to protect student safety and minimize risk of injury.
  • Create Active and Safe Routes to School (neighbourhood walkabout, student transportation survey); Create and promote a no-idling zone in the school driveway and parking lot.
  • Designate safe places and people within your school.
  • Incorporate activities to promote positive mental health (Tier 1); increasing mental health literacy, promoting positive mental health for all students, and sharing resources for students in need of support can also assist in suicide prevention. 

 Engage parents, caregivers and families:

  • Offer a parent education night to teach strategies for supporting youth with healthy decision-making.
  • Raise awareness among parents/caregivers and staff about the importance of role-modeling (e.g. wearing a helmet and following traffic signals when riding a bike, not using cell-phones while driving, showing respect and empathy toward others, etc.).

Partner with your school community:

  • Organize assemblies on cyber-bullying and cyber- awareness/digital/media literacy.
  • Solicit local bike shops for helmet fitting or helmet donations; hold a bike rodeo partnered with community partners (e.g. police).
  • Take part in the Swim to Survive program (Gr. 3).
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