Safety Offices start informational campaign

VW independent staff/submitted information

COLUMBUS — The Ohio School Safety Center and Ohio Traffic Safety Office are working together this school year to make sure students know what they need to do to be safe both at school and on the road. “Safe Streets Safe Schools” is an informational campaign to help students stay safe before, during and after school, whether in the halls, classrooms, or their cars.

The campaign is being launched during National Teen Driver Safety Week and Ohio School Safety month.

“One behavior or action can change the direction of a day and even a life for our students,” OSSC Executive Director Emily Torok said on the importance of making safe decisions. “Whether they choose to put their seat belt on in the car on the way to school, if they choose to be a friend, or bully, and even whether they report a concern for safety they have. We are empowering students to make safe decisions to get to school safely and get home safely.”

As part of this campaign, OSSC and OTSO are providing “Safe Streets Safe Schools” supporting materials to parents and schools in a promotional toolkit. The toolkit includes social media content, a video and script for morning announcements, a newsletter, palm card handout, lanyards and phone wallets. Parents and teachers are encouraged to use these resources to start conversations with students of all ages about school and road safety. All materials can be found online at this link: Safe Streets | Safe Schools Ohio | Ohio School Safety Center

“Working with the Ohio School Safety Center was a natural fit to support one of our priorities which is reducing crashes among teen drivers,” said Emily Davidson, OTSO executive director. “School safety risks often reach beyond the school building itself, and this campaign encourages students to become safety role models among their peers.”

The Ohio School Safety Center was created by Governor Mike DeWine in 2019 as a comprehensive, statewide office focused exclusively on enhancing the safety of Ohio schools. In addition to maintaining and promoting the Safer Ohio School Tip Line, the center assists schools and first responders in preventing, preparing for, and responding to threats and acts of violence including self-harm. Staff also proactively scan social media and websites to identify potential threats against schools.