Schools should be a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. Including those who live with epilepsy. So why don't more people know seizure first aid, and why isn't it taught in schools? Seizures can happen anywhere and affect anyone, not just people with epilepsy. Around 1 in 10 people will experience a seizure in their lifetime. And around 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy in their lifetime.

Seizures can happen anywhere and are unexpected. When they do, it is important for those around whoever is having a seizure to know how to perform first aid properly. Knowing the proper seizure first aid can help reduce the risk of injury. Epilepsy is not the only cause of seizures. Head trauma, strokes, infections, tumors, or anyureisms can cause seizures.

Having seizure first aid courses and epilepsy awareness classes would also reduce the many misconceptions and help relieve the stigmas surrounding epilepsy. CPR is also taught in schools. I've personally been taught it, having time taken out of my PE class to be taught. Knowing both of the first aid procedures can save a life, so both should be taught.

The funding for the courses wouldn't come out of nowhere, yet fundraising can be organized, or money can be allocated out of the existing budget. With how much a single course would cost for one person, paying for thousands of students and staff each year to learn seizure first aid, budgeting for it would take time and planning for the program to work properly.

Schools have the responsibility to keep their students safe, and if the students and staff don't know how to deal with an emergency, then they fail at their responsibility. With this plan, they are one step towards making school safer for everyone and taking stress away from those with epilepsy.