3 Tips For Keeping Kids Safe As They Head Back To In-Person School

For some, their kids have been back at in-person school since the beginning of the year. For others, in-person school may have just started again or is planning to start soon.

While you might want your kids to be going to school in as normal of circumstances as possible, the safety of our kids still needs to be the priority. So to help ensure that your kids are as safe as they can be if and when they return to the classroom, here are three tips for keeping kids safe as they head back to in-person school.

Teach Proper Hygiene

Over the last year, you’ve probably talked to your kids a lot about keeping their hands clean. However, even the most hygiene-conscious of kids needs a reminder every once in a while.

As part of this reminder, HealthyKids.org suggests that you periodically watch to ensure that your child is washing their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds on a regular basis. Ideally, this should be done at any transition during their day or if they’ve done anything or gone anywhere where they could have been exposed to different germs. By teaching your kids when they should be washing their hands, or using hand sanitizer when access to clean water and soap isn’t available, you’ll help them to keep harmful germs away from them when in a classroom environment.

Encourage Physical Distancing

If your child hasn’t been able to see their friends from school for a while, they might be very excited about getting back to school and seeing other kids again. But in this excitement, your guidance on social distancing might go out the window.

To keep this from happening, Jenna Ryu, a contributor to USA Today, recommends that you teach your kids the difference between physical distancing and social distancing. While your kids should try to stay physically away from other kids in their classrooms, this doesn’t mean that they have to avoid each other socially. So if they’re excited to see people, encourage them to send air kisses or air high fives rather than hugging.

Choose The Right Masks

In school, your child will likely have to wear a face mask all day. Because of this, it’s vital that you choose the right masks to send to school with your kids.

The staff of the Mayo Clinic recommends that you spend some time finding masks that are comfortable, easy to put on, and look fun for your kids. And, in the event that something happens to the mask you sent them to school wearing, make sure they have a backup mask that they can switch out if necessary.

To help your kids and the rest of your family stay safe and healthy as schools begin to open back up, consider implementing some of the tips mentioned above.