teachers: what do you do when you see unsafe car seat use?

[VoodooChile]

D'oh, I meant SRO, I realized my mistake when I saw someone mention it up thread. This is a police officer who works in the schools. In the last district where I worked, they had one who worked between all the elementary schools (middle and high schools got their own). They wore lots of hats, and I was most familiar with the high school ones (I taught high school), but the elementary school one, it turned out, helped with some of the pickup issues. When he was out there, no one let their 5 year olds jump into the front seat and sped off without them buckling.

 

[BananaBoat]

DD1 will be in K in Sept & I would welcome any kind of CPS info to circulate around her school. If preschool is any indication, I will be seeing a lot of misuse & just general ignorance. I would guess that she was one of the only kids in preK in a harnessed seat - we would regularly see her classmates in backless boosters. I think most people don't have a clue about CPS - they know vaguely that their kid should be in a seat, but assume that whatever is written on the box is accurate. I think that most parents are doing their best & are busy & overwhelmed with life. Taking the time to research & understand the importance of CPS is not even on their radar. I get that. I had no clue until I came here & that was sheer luck. I got hooked on best practice by the time DD1 was 6 months old & was a bit sanctimonious with my friends, but now they come to me for all things CPS-related. I feel like I can help by others knowing I have a wealth of info & can give answers without imposing or judging their parenting.

Handouts, safety fair, seat checks etc are helpful when it's coming from a credible source. I find if it's not from a safety organization or police department parents are less receptive. On the other end of the spectrum, I find parents are also receptive when they see an older kid ERF or harnessed & they ask about it. Field trips or carpools or playdates are great for this, as it offers the chance to dispel common assumptions (child is too big, it's too uncomfortable, car set up is too hard etc) with an in-person demo. I've never handed out a flyer about CPS, but I know for sure that I've helped keep at least a dozen kids RF past 2 & harnessed past 4 :dance:

 

[MissieCSZ]

D'oh, I meant SRO, I realized my mistake when I saw someone mention it up thread. This is a police officer who works in the schools. In the last district where I worked, they had one who worked between all the elementary schools (middle and high schools got their own). They wore lots of hats, and I was most familiar with the high school ones (I taught high school), but the elementary school one, it turned out, helped with some of the pickup issues. When he was out there, no one let their 5 year olds jump into the front seat and sped off without them buckling.

Ah yes, we do have one of those. He's in charge of 18 elementary schools in our city so he's not around much and has a lot on his hands--this community has serious issues with drugs and violence so car seats probably aren't high on his list. But I could still ask him about it.

 

[BananaBoat]

Ah yes, we do have one of those. He's in charge of 18 elementary schools in our city so he's not around much and has a lot on his hands--this community has serious issues with drugs and violence so car seats probably aren't high on his list. But I could still ask him about it.

Where in Mass do you teach? I'm up on the North Shore.

 

[MissieCSZ]

Where in Mass do you teach? I'm up on the North Shore.

OMG me too! I'll PM you

 

[Kac]

Please don't be disappointed if you are told you cannot send anything home. You might be allowed to talk to your school resource officer (if your school has one), who might be allowed to intervene, but teachers might be restricted in what they can do.

I know, that's why I said "if I'm allowed."

 

[T4K]

As a new teacher or a seasoned one, you are under sooooo much scrutiny from parents, students, administration, etc. I only taught for two years but there would be no way in hell I would have sent something home. Parents are stressed. Parents are busy. I need them to read my emails not roll their eyes at them because I'm including "extra" info that doesn't pertain to their kid's education.

As a parent, I would be fine with it but not all are.

 

[Patriot201]

I know, that's why I said "if I'm allowed."

Oh, I know. I was just saying to please not be disappointed.