For the third installment on Back to School Safety and School and Campus Safety Month, we continue addressing back to school/campus safety concerns. Having already looked at back to school shopping safety, safety checklists for parents, transportation safety, higher ed fire safety, and reducing risk for college freshmen, this week we will look at Physical Education/Recess Safety and Teen Driver Safety.

Physical Education and Recess Safety: The health benefits of physical activity are well known. But, playground accidents do happen and, in the age of COVID-19, additional precautions should be taken. According to the CDC, every year more than 200,000 kids age 14 or younger are treated for playground-related injuries at emergency departments. Additionally, they state that playground-related traumatic brain injuries (including concussions) happen more frequently at school for 5 to 14 year olds.

When it comes to physical education and recess safety considerations for COVID-19, the Illinois State Board of Education addresses them on pages 42,43 and 47 of the "Starting the 2020-21 School Year: Transition Joint Guidance." Additionally, the "Map Your Playground" idea from Recess Lab could be adapted to help maintain social distancing during recess and physical education.

Teen Driver Safety: Earlier this summer we reported on the 100 Deadliest Days, the days between Memorial Day and Labor Day, where the number of fatal crashes involving teen drivers is typically higher. With a couple weeks remaining in the 100 Deadliest Days plus the addition of back to school traffic, children waiting at bus stops, and individuals walking to school, it is important to remind teens to drive safely. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides information on Teen Driving, as does the CDC. Additionally, the National Safety Council provides information and resources for parents on their "DriveitHOME" page.

The Illinois Attorney General, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Illinois School and Campus Safety Program have collaborated to provide FREE threat assessment training through the National Threat Assessment Center on September 18, 2020, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. The training will be held online via Microsoft Teams.

The training includes findings from the study "Protecting America's Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targets School Violence." Additionally, the training's learning objectives include identifying potential threats, developing multidisciplinary and risk management strategies/interventions, demonstrating knowledge of behavioral indicators and triggers, and introducing the new Safe 2 Help platform for reporting school safety concerns in Illinois.