Whether your child is starting at a new school, moving onto middle school, high school or college, or is simply becoming more independent as they mature, a lot of feelings may come up for both of you.
Anticipation is a common feeling felt by adults and kids during the weeks before school starts. We often make up stories about what we think is going to happen or what we are worried will happen.
Sharing our thoughts and practicing what we can do in different scenarios can give us all confidence to handle whatever happens.
For example, if your child is getting ready to start walking to school with the neighbors or their friends, you can practice with them ahead of time. This will allow you to:
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- See the different obstacles and can come up with a plan together on how to address them.
- Talk with your child along the way about who they could get help from if there was a safety problem. While in the neighborhood it may be the neighbors. Once they get closer to school it may be a crossing guard. If they walk near stores or businesses, help may be inside.
- Practice what they can do if their friends or neighbors try and get them to take a different path or a shortcut.
Sometimes it can feel like an overreaction if we have safety plans for different situations, but prevention and preparedness are not the same as being afraid. Think of the difference in confidence we feel between the first time we try something and the tenth time. Practicing safety skills is no different!
Our article, Safety on the Way to School or Other Activities – Guidelines from Kidpower provides a checklist for parents to consider as their children start to do more things on their own.
Starting School – The Kidpower Way
If you appreciate checklists, this is one that will help ease your back to school feelings.
Seven steps to prepare kids for a strong start to the new school year:
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- Take a realistic look at your child’s emotional school-readiness.
- Be clear about expectations – for safety and for learning
- Make a plan for potential problems.
- Stay in touch with what is going on.
- Offer support to your child’s teachers and schools.
- Prepare your children to set boundaries and to advocate for themselves.
- Advocate for your children when things go wrong.
You can read more about each step here.
Our Most Popular Back to School Resources
Whether you are concerned about bullying, how to support teachers, or protecting your athlete, we have you covered! Here are our most popular resources for back to school:
Our Kidpower Comic Books are an excellent resource for all ages and would be a great back to school investment!
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Published: August 6, 2025 | Last Updated: August 6, 2025
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.