What is your best back to school safety tip?

Our best back to school safety tip involves traveling to and from school. If you are going in a car you should buckle up and if you are walking, walk quickly to avoid strangers. Being back in school involves new friends and that means lots of media websites are involved. To be safe on the internet do not talk to any strangers and keep your profile private.During the beginning of our school year, our SAVE Chapter has helped prevent many school violence problems. - Candy Gonzalez and Dinh Doan, Montbello High School, Denver, CO

First of all, treat everyone with an open mind, as you'd like to be treated. Being nice to people can often lower the chances for them to lash out and cause violence within the school. But if you do see an example of bullying, fighting, or something else that can pose a threat to other students, tell someone. It's best not to get involved, or you could end up getting hurt yourself. As far as an service projects go, a great idea for back to school would be to creat a SAVE pledge banner. You can have students come sign it during lunch as a pledge to do their part to make school a safer place to be, and then afterwards hang it up somewhere that the whole school can see it. It brings about a sense of unity amongst the entire school to do something good. ~ Amanda Krebsbach, Mukwonago High School, Mukwonago, WI

The best back to school safety tip would be just try your best. Also do not choose the wrong group of people to get along with. How my school will be helping this year by doing service projects and other actives. ~ Nigel Cox, Farmville Central High School, Greenville, NC

We are planning on having a a dance after the football game that week and have a carnival like experience before the football game where we will be giving out info about SAVE. How ever we are not sure if this is for certain yet because we still are waiting for approval... But we will always have a back up plan. ~ Wesley Rossdeutscher School, Chandler High School, OK

My chapter started working before school even began!

• Jul 25-Aug 16 - On Wednesdays and Thursdays during this time, we attended a SAVE Camp. We rode a bus from Foss Park Youth Center to the College of Lake County, in Grayslake, IL. There, we worked with Educational Talent Search to develop our leadership skills.
• August 4 - Our SAVE Chapter participated in the North Chicago Community Day, which promotes non-violence and builds the community’s relationship.
• August 13 -14 - We attended an overnight leadership retreat to Blue Harbor Resort, in Sheboygan, WI. While we were there, we worked on our Community Service project: Helping our school meet AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). Aside from planning events for the next school year; we participated in teambuilding exercises, discussed what the SAVE members feel are issues in our community and learned what it takes to be a leader.
• August 16 - Some of the SAVE members attended a School Board meeting. At this meeting, the board presented a plaque to me acknowledging my activities on SAVE's National Youth Advisory Board. Information packets about SAVE and what our Chapter plans to do for this year.
• August 18 - Members of the SAVE Chapter participated in Foss Park Youth Center's "Gift of Hope" event, giving school supplies to the residents of North Chicago.

This year we are starting a new SAVE Chapter at Wilmot. We don’t start school until after Labor Day. Once we get back, I will be meeting with Ms. Lena to concentrate on recruiting members and starting the meetings. I have copied the SAVE brochures on “The "Top Five" Tips that Every Student Should Know", “School Safety Tips for Parents", and the "Understanding Peer Pressure". These will be handed out at the Wilmot PantherFest event, where the parents get to follow their kid’s schedule. Kalynn Kowitz~ Wilmot Union High School, Wilmot, WI

My school SAVE chapter is assisting with Back-to-School safety activities by repainting the student parking lot and adding arrows so students know which way to go. The chapter also encouraged the school to install the new lights in the parking lot to assist in school security. - Michael Register, Farmville Central High School, NC

My high school's SAVE chapter is assisting in Back to School safety efforts by starting up SAVE again. I really believe this will help my peers be more aware of the impact that their actions can have and make them think twice. This year, everyone's going to be more excited about SAVE and have a great, safe school year! ~ Katie Weart, Central Cabarrus High School, Concord, NC

My chapter hasn't met since we started back to school yet but me and my advisor is talking about setting up some days to meet through the week so that everyone is not busy on those days. ~ Brehanna Jordan, North Chicago High School, IL

My SAVE is definitely going to participate in the up coming events during National safety week. We are also helping all the new students have a smooth transition into our school, which I think will keep the atmosphere calm so there won't be any safety problems. ~ Amber Bivins, Chapel Hill High School, NC

My chapter hasn't had a chance to get together to put together a fund raiser for back to school. I know that individual members have been helping out around the school getting it ready for the first day. But once we get into the year a little we are going to be alot more proactive.~ Wesley Rossdeutscher School, Chandler High School, OK

I have not yet met with my new SAVE chapter because school hasn't started back for me, but when it does I hope to make announcements to the school telling about SAVE and what our purpose is, but also what safety measures we want to take all year long to make sure each and every student can learn in a safe environment. ~ Casey Story, Garner Magnet High School, Garner, NC

• Get a bus buddy! Riding the bus is a lot more safe and comfortable if you have a buddy to wait at the bus stop and sit on the bus with you!
• Go to orientation and meet your teachers! It's good for them to know you before you arrive on the first day, and even better if your parents can meet them as well!
• Choose a spot at school to meet all of your friends in the morning. That way they're expecting you and you can walk to classes together!
• Know where all your classes are and avoid the areas where you don't normally have to walk and where there aren't many other students.
• Plan to eat lunch with your friends in the cafeteria! Most trouble happens during free time when students are in places they shouldn't be.
• Have a reliable, consistent plan for getting home after school. You never want to end up having to get a ride with someone you don't know or being stuck at school after most other students have left.
  ~ Sarah Gillespie, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

• My number 1 safety tip would be to get involved in clubs and sports on campus so you find the right people to hang out with and are influenced by good kids.
• When at a Party with drinking, have everyone leave their keys in a basket and only have the designated drivers drive home the others at the end of the night.
• Don't be afraid to tell your friends that they are hurting themselves when doing drugs, and definitely confront them.
• Be smart, make smart decisions, don't do anything that you are going to regret.
• Focus on School and not your social life.
• Not even joking, some of my friends have a can of mace on their key chains. Just in case they ever need it.
  ~ Heather Hernandez, Poway High School, San Diego, CA

• Locker combinations: Don't share it with other students; Do keep a copy of it somewhere safe or with a trusted teacher.
• Clean Out those backpacks before you go back to school. Every year I see several students who have taken their backpack camping or on other trips where it may have been allowable or even necessary to have matches, lighters or pocketknives. Unfortunately most of these items will cause disciplinary action in school. So check the pack and clean it out before you bring it back to school.
  ~ Jim Wise, Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, NC

• Wait for the school bus on the side walk or if the bus picks you up on a busy street wait until the bus comes then cross the street if needed.
• If walking into the school in the parking lot, look both ways and try not to walk in the middle of the road.
• If you walk to school, walk with someone not by yourself.
• Be yourself, you have nothing to prove to anyone by fighting or bullying.
  ~ Channing Shor, Middle Creek High School, Apex, NC

• Stay focused
• Think about actions before your react
• Make goals
• Remember what your there for ....to LEARN!!!!
• Stay around positive people
• Don't try to fit in....stay YOU
  ~ Gerard Wheeler, Highland School of Technology

National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere SAVE: Youth Voices... Grown-Up Choices! Toll Free 866-343-SAVE For more information contact cwray@nationalsave.org   /   Copyright 2012