For most of the country, the first weeks of school land squarely in the hottest stretch of the year. Buses without air conditioning, recess on asphalt, and afternoon sports practices all happen right as August temperatures peak — which makes heat safety one of the most overlooked back-to-school topics.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 700 people die from extreme heat every year in the United States, and children are one of the groups most vulnerable to it, along with older adults and people with chronic medical conditions. Kids’ bodies heat up faster than adults’ and cool down more slowly, which is part of why classrooms, gyms, and buses that feel merely warm to a teacher can be genuinely dangerous for a child.
Know the Difference: Heat Exhaustion vs. Heat Stroke
The CDC’s warning signs guidance distinguishes two stages of heat illness that every parent, coach, and teacher should be able to recognize:
Heat exhaustion looks like heavy sweating, cold or clammy skin, a fast but weak pulse, nausea, dizziness, and headache. A child showing these symptoms should be moved somewhere cool immediately, given water, and monitored closely.
Heat stroke is a medical emergency. Warning signs include a body temperature above 103°F, hot and red skin, a rapid and strong pulse, confusion, or loss of consciousness. If a child shows these symptoms, call 911 immediately and try to cool them down while waiting for help — heat stroke can cause permanent organ damage within minutes if untreated.
What Parents and Schools Can Actually Do
The CDC’s prevention guidance translates well to a school setting:
- Push for shade and AC where it matters most. Recess, PE, and bus loading areas are the highest-exposure times of a school day. If your child’s school doesn’t already adjust outdoor activity during heat advisories, it’s worth raising with the front office.
- Hydration before thirst. The CDC specifically recommends drinking fluids “even if you don’t feel thirsty” — a habit worth building into a kid’s morning and lunch routine well before symptoms show up.
- Dress for it. Loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing genuinely helps regulate body temperature, and it’s an easy thing to control in a backpack or gym bag.
- Never leave kids in cars. It sounds obvious, but the CDC calls this out explicitly because it remains one of the most common causes of pediatric heat deaths — a car interior can climb more than 20 degrees above the outside temperature in just ten minutes.
- Check local heat advisories the way you’d check the weather for snow days. Many local news outlets and the CDC’s Heat & Health Tracker post daily risk levels that can inform whether outdoor practice or recess should be shortened.
The Bottom Line
Heat safety doesn’t get the same back-to-school attention as school supplies or bus schedules, but for a few weeks each August it’s arguably a bigger risk to kids’ health. A few minutes spent knowing the warning signs — and asking your child’s school what its heat policy actually is — can make the difference between a rough afternoon and a trip to the emergency room.
Sources: CDC — Protect Yourself From the Dangers of Extreme Heat; CDC — Warning Signs and Symptoms of Heat-Related Illness; Ready.gov — Extreme Heat