Safe Steps, Bright Futures

As you read this, schools will have been back in session for a month with all the excitement of back-to-school shopping for notebooks and backpacks, new shoes and binders. However, we know that this time is not exciting for everyone. Families with limited resources are not always able to provide the necessary supplies for their children.  For years now our pre-prosecution program has worked to collect backpacks full of all the required supplies in addition to shoes, socks, and jackets which are then distributed across our district when school starts. I am happy to report that this year over 300 back packs and an equal number of shoes, socks and jackets have been distributed to children across the three counties of our district – Cibola, Sandoval and Valencia.

As students return to school it’s a good time to review and renew our efforts toward safety because keeping children safe is a community endeavor including but not limited to focusing on recognizing abuse, securing firearms, monitoring digital spaces, and watching out for traffic and bullying.

In terms of abuse, it’s generally well known that teachers and school staff are mandated to report if they suspect a child is being abused. However, the state of New Mexico is one of the states with a universal reporting requirement. Under New Mexico’s "Duty to Report Child Abuse and Child Neglect" law every person in the state—who knows or has a reasonable suspicion that a child is abused or neglected must report it immediately to the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) hotline, local law enforcement, or tribal authorities. And for the sake of clarity, one must only have actual knowledge or reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect. Proof is not required to make a report.

The definition of abuse as provided by the New Mexico Reproductive Health National Training Center “includes physical, emotional or psychological abuse, sexual abuse/exploitation, abandonment or placing a child in a situation that endangers their life or health”.

Too often we hear about school shootings. The K-12 School Shooting Database keeps data on the number of school shootings per year, and all the circumstances surrounding each incident. Frequently, the school shooter was a young person who had access to an unsecured firearm at home. There are many preventative actions we can all take to help prevent these incidents before they happen. Work with other parents and caregivers to underline the importance of secure gun storage. Gun safety in the home is essential in preventing gun injuries and deaths before they happen. Find ways to communicate with your child about gun violence in an age-appropriate way. Community violence intervention takes a village, as in all of us.

Recent highly publicized cases in New Mexico have addressed the harm done to children by social media platforms with one recent ruling declaring one platform a “public nuisance” meaning that the platform causes real and ongoing harm to the public, especially to children. Of course, online platforms are also used by children and young people to bully and shame each other, sometimes resulting in tragic outcomes. Another online avenue is used for the recruitment and sexual exploitation of youth. This happens when offenders use social media, online video games and messaging apps to target, groom and coerce minors.

Keeping children safe on social media requires the implementation of strict privacy settings, open communication and active and engaged parents and caregivers. Some ideas for keeping kids safe online include setting up private accounts, eliminating secret passwords, creating tech free zones in the home i.e. no phones or tablets in the bedrooms. Monitor and discuss your child’s social media use, keep open lines of communication about anything that may be scary, harmful or concerning.  Unsupervised social media is more likely to expose children to potentially harmful content and features, be it from strangers or bullying from kids in the neighborhood.

Some of this may sound crazy or overwrought, but the online world is the wild west. In my line of work, I see more of the dark side of the online world than I would like. Let’s keep the children in our communities out of it.

And finally, please observe the school zone speed limits. When a school bus stops with flashing lights, no matter what kind of rush you are in please don’t swing around it. Children are crossing.

Whether you have a child who has just started kindergarten or one who just entered her senior year in high school, we wish everyone a happy, SAFE, and successful school year.