Back to School, Ready for Anything

September brings two important things together: back-to-school season and National Preparedness Month.

As students return to classrooms, campuses, buses, after-school activities, and college housing, families are once again adjusting to busy schedules and time spent apart from one another. That makes September a good time to ask an important question:

Would your child know what to do if an emergency happened while they were away from home?

Emergency preparedness for children and students is not about creating fear. It is about helping them understand that emergencies can happen, giving them simple information they can remember, and making sure they know who to contact and where to go.

Preparedness should also grow with the student.

An elementary school student may need to know their full name, a parent or guardian's phone number, and who they can trust for help.

A middle or high school student may be ready to understand the family communication plan, reunification locations, and what to do if cell service is disrupted.

A college student living away from home may need a more independent plan that includes emergency supplies, campus alerts, transportation options, and communication with family.

The details may be different, but the goal is the same:

Give every student the knowledge, confidence, and basic resources they need to respond when something unexpected happens.

National Preparedness Month is an excellent opportunity for families to make emergency preparedness part of the back-to-school routine.

Check emergency contacts. Talk about communication. Discuss where you would meet if you could not return home. Make sure your children understand that during a major emergency, the normal routine may change.

These do not have to be long or complicated conversations.

Preparedness can begin with one simple question at the dinner table:

“If something happened while we were apart, what would we do?”

Over the next several posts, we will look more closely at preparedness for students of different ages, including communication plans, emergency contact information, school and campus preparedness, emergency kits, and supplies students may want to keep with them.

Because preparing our children is not just about what we put in their backpacks.

It is also about making sure they know what to do when they need us—and we cannot immediately be there.