While student safety is a year-round priority, National School Bus Safety Week (Oct 21-25, 2024) is a time to transform the community and students into advocates for safety awareness. Held the third full week of October, National School Bus Safety Week shines a much-needed spotlight on the ongoing dangers surrounding student safety and buses. School buses are one of the safest vehicles on the road, but children are put at high risk when boarding or leaving the bus. Creating awareness around the challenges students face can help your community be more cautious around school buses, helping children arrive and leave school safely. Want to activate your community towards positive change? Here are five strategies to embrace National School Bus Safety Week in your district.
1. Promote School Bus Safety on Social Media
Meet parents, students, and community members where they already are–social media. Sharing personal stories, relevant statistics, and reminders of school bus etiquette on social media can educate your community. Consider posting:
- Profiles of school bus drivers
- Graphics on how to safely stop for buses
- Tutorials for students to learn how to enter and exit buses safely
- Stats on buses and road safety
Looking for more inspiration? At BusPatrol, we’re dedicated to educating our communities about safety—whether it’s reminding motorists to obey the law or helping students learn to look both ways before crossing the street. This week, we’re sharing downloadable resources for everyone. Follow us on social media to access these valuable materials and help us create a safer environment together!
Download our National School Bus Safety Week social media posts to teach motorists and students safety tips!
2. Increase Community Engagement through Local Groups and Media Outreach
Beyond social media, find alternative ways to get your story to the media and local community. Consider distributing parent letters explaining National School Bus Safety Week and how they can keep students safer on their daily commute. Reach out to other members of the community to raise awareness, too. Try posting on platforms like NextDoor or community Facebook groups to share the message. And, nothing beats awareness like classic local news coverage. Send a brief press release to local media outlets, including radio, news stations, and newspapers, about the importance of National School Bus Safety Week, highlighting the initiatives your district is taking to make the journey to and from school safer for students. Include data on illegal bus passings, as well as the efforts community members can take to keep students safe.
3. Teach Young Students Important Safety Tips and Tricks
National School Bus Safety Week can also be a great time to provide a refresher on bus safety for younger students. Bring together students in an assembly or plan classroom teach-in sessions to remind younger students of the safest practices when it comes to boarding and getting off the bus. Consider including:
- Staging skits, where students can identify safe and unsafe bus behavior in real time
- Safety pledges, or having students create a bus safety pledge that they can recite together. They can decorate posters with the pledge and hang them around the school
- Interactive experiences, where students visit different stations representing school bus safety scenarios, giving them the opportunity to act out proper behavior at each interaction
Or, partner with BusPatrol! Each year, we visit our partner districts to share educational lessons for young children during National School Bus Safety Week.
BusPatrol visits classrooms during School Bus Safety Week
4. Educate Older Students and New Drivers the Importance of School Bus Safety Traffic Rules
National School Bus Safety Week can also be an excellent time to communicate the rules of the road to older students who recently got a driver’s license or will soon take their driver’s test. School bus safety laws are a part of the driver’s education curriculum, but holding a quick refresher during the school day could help students avoid violating laws in the future. Hold simulations or peer-to-peer discussions with older students where they can talk through the laws and hold a refresher course on passing school buses safely and how to enter and exit the school bus safely.
5. Partner with BusPatrol to Modernize Your Entire Fleet and Make Roads Safer
National School Bus Safety Week can be a great time to discuss overall safety strategy, including goals for safer trips. By partnering with BusPatrol, school districts can modernize their entire fleets with the most advanced photo enforcement technology. Our program is proven to significantly reduce the rate of illegal passings, with some communities experiencing over a 40% decrease, meaning roads are safer for students. If your district is committed to school bus and student safety, consider partnering with BusPatrol to modernize your fleet and enhance road safety in your community.
