According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ‘it is the right of every child to be kept safe and secure’. When children are sent to school they become the responsibility of the school. This new home where the child will spend 3-4 hours of his/her day in the company of no less then 15-20 other children, has to be equally safe as the child’s home. The reason why schools need to give greater emphasis on safety is, firstly the basic fact that they have a larger number of children to deal with, and greater the number, more the chances of accident or injury. Secondly they have to live up to the expectations of the parents who believe that their child is now in the safe company of people who know everything there is to know about child’s development, education and safety.

With the exception of a few, most schools in both the public and private sectors, have neglected important aspects including appropriate indoor and outdoor spaces, location of the school, importance of caring for the environment, and teaching and practicing safety, health and hygiene. There is a perception that making an environment safe is a cost intensive endeavour. However when compared to the loss, both human and financial, due to unsafe structures and lack of skills, the cost for ensuring safety through secure environment and creating safety awareness is much less.

This article will discuss what safety means, how schools can ensure safety and also ways to teach young children how to be safe. Safety simply put means “to provide for and to contribute to the wellbeing of the child's evolving physical, mental and emotional needs.”

To ensure a safe environment, the schools should look at a more holistic programme that:

• helps create awareness about safety and safety measures amongst all of its stakeholders;
  
• looks at consistent maintenance/repair of all facilities and equipment;
  
• allows for appropriate and safe designing of all environments; and
  
• has the teaching of safety incorporated into their curriculum.  

These factors can be considered when setting the guidelines for the School Safety Policy. Major components of the Policy are mentioned in the article to give you an idea as to how safety can be practised at the whole school level.

In order for your school to work towards becoming as safe as possible, it will take a concentrated effort by concerned people including parents, heads, administrators, coordinators, teachers and other school staff. This group will have to work together to identify problem areas and to develop solutions that will work in your school. In order for all of these people to be of any help, they also need to know what safety is. Workshops and lectures and provision of literature on safety can be helpful in creating safety awareness.

Let us now look at simple safety measures that a teacher can take within her/ his classroom and in the outdoor play area.