The first day of school in Bakersfield is just around the corner.

Lori Meza, public information officer of the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, shared some safety tips while at Franklin Elementary School, which starts classes on Wednesday.

Meza talked about safety, walking to and from school.

“Walking to and from school is obviously a very vulnerable place for our kids,” she said. “They’re out in the open. They’re out in the public, so make sure that you’re teaching your kids to use all the crosswalks.”

Meza also said students riding bikes should walk their bike across the crosswalk. If they have ear buds on, they should have one ear bud in to be aware of the surroundings.

“If your child has a cell phone make sure they know to not have it out in front of them while they’re walking. That can be a distraction,” she said. “They can get hurt from not seeing something or obviously they could be unaware of their surroundings.”

Meza said it’s also good to have an emergency plan in advance.

Have a special keyword with your kid. So, if that keyword is texted, the parent knows it’s an emergency.

Meza also talked about online safety and social media.

“One of the biggest things that I like to tell parents and students is do not be friends with people online that you don’t know in real life,” she said. “If you don’t have the ability to talk to them and confirm what you’ve been discussing online, that’s not someone that you should have as an online friend. Another thing that I like to remind our parents and students is just remember these three little letters TMI, too much information. Knowing what TMI is online is really important.”

Meza said don’t ever post your phone number on social media.

She also said to be careful with posting first-day-of-school photos on social media.

“You don’t want to have your school name in the background of your photo,” she said. “If you have those cute little plaques, you don’t want to put identifying information about where your child goes to school.”

Be careful of the information in the photo and data that can be downloaded, she added.