Tag Archives: (no texting while driving)

General Safety Issues

AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS AND CHILD SAFETY (GUEST POST)

The world we live in is dangerous.  It doesn’t take much more than the news to see it: conflict overseas, the constant threat of terror, pandemic diseases, cancer rates on the rise – but what we tend to forget is that some of the most common and preventable causes of death and injury can be chalked up to failure to observe safety regulations while performing commonplace activities, such as driving.  the unfortunate reality is that the consequences of such negligence are received by the world’s youth, with the leading number of injuries to children on an international scale, caused by traffic collision, sits right around 260,000.

The good news is that the CDC recently released a report on child passenger safety that shows deaths related to motor vehicle crashes in children 12 years and younger decreased by a whopping 43 per cent in the nine years between 2002 and 2011.  The bad news is that around 9,000 children did die during those years, and one-third of those children weren’t buckled up or safely secured in a car seat – and this doesn’t even account for the number of children injured but not killed. It is estimated that 150 children between infantile ages and 19 years old visit emergency rooms every hour due to injuries related to automobile accidents.

So what are we doing as a society to prevent the preventable? Besides avoiding the obvious, such as driving while intoxicated, texting and driving, or driving with little sleep, there are a number of safety tips to adhere to and mistakes to avoid when it comes to securing our children on the roads:

  • Use a Car Seat/Buckle Up – This might sound like a no-brainer, but the facts are the facts: 33 per cent of the children that died in auto accidents over the last 10 years weren’t buckled up (and that’s higher for the 8-to-12-year-old range, where 45 per cent of fatalities were not secured by a seatbelt.)  It’s the law in every state, county, and city that I can think of, so do your part to protect your kids and fasten them in.
  • Using the Car Seat Improperly – If you’ve left the straps too loose on the car seat, not been sure about which way to face the car seat, or have had the same car seat for your child since infancy, you’re increasing the risk of injury or death for your child in the case of an accident.  Make sure that you read the user’s manual for your specific model of car seat and follow the safety regulations.
  • Allowing Them to Sit in the Passenger Seat – Yes, your children will probably beg for you to put them in the front seat, and yes, the broken record style of begging may almost drive you to give in to their pleas – but the simple fact is that the front seat is not as safe as the backseat.  Until they are 12 years old, keep them where they are safe.
  • Find More Tips on USA Today.

It’s good to keep in mind that the rates of infant and child death due to auto accidents are going down, and hopefully will continue to.  Do your part and protect your child – someday, if we are all vigilant about our children’s safety, we’ll reduce their auto death and injury rate to zero.

That’s not hopeful thinking; that’s a fact.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_preventable_causes_of_death
http://www.cdc.gov/media/DPK/2014/dpk-vs-motor-vehicle-safety.html
http://www.wtw-law.com/safety-child/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/04/cdc-too-many-kids-die-unbuckled/5204127/

Our thanks to Sofia Francis for this eye-opening article that lets us know that  our children’s safety is in our hands, at all times, and especially when we are driving. pb

 

General Safety Issues

TEACHING YOUR CHILD PHONE ETIQUETTE (GUEST POST)

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When I first received this post from Martina Keyhill of BecomeANanny.com, I thought, what does this have to do with safety? Then I read the article, and saw that it has some very good safety advice.   As parents and grandparents, we can set the example for them by using our cell phones in a way that they will understand: please pay attention to the advice Martina shares with us.

Back when landline phones were a fixture in every household, kids were taught proper phone etiquette as a standard skill. Conversely, in 2010,  USA Today reported that one in four American homes had only wireless phones, with that figure steadily climbing. As a result, more of today’s kids are growing up in homes without landline telephones altogether, simply receiving their own mobile devices when they reach an age that their parents determine is appropriate. Teaching your children proper phone etiquette at an early age can help them understand the best ways to politely and appropriately use both the decreasingly popular landline telephone and their own cell phone, when they receive it.

Safety First

Children often have a tendency to give out more information than is strictly necessary over the phone. While these over-shares can range from mildly embarrassing to downright hilarious, that lack of discretion can be dangerous. Kids should be taught from a young age that certain information should never be shared with a stranger, which can help ensure that they never give out information that’s better kept quiet. To guarantee that your youngster understands what is considered appropriate sharing, role play a variety of hypothetical phone conversations and talk about the right way to handle certain questions. If you live in a home with a landline that is still regularly used, these conversations and exercises should start taking place before your child is allowed to answer the phone on his own.

Model Good Phone Behavior

Kids learn much about what is and is not acceptable behavior by observing parents and other trusted adults, then modeling their own behavior after those observations. You can start teaching your child good cell phone etiquette long before he ever gets his own mobile device by simply practicing good phone manners yourself. To provide your kids with a good phone-etiquette role model, don’t take non-essential calls in quiet, public settings or use alert tones that disturb others around you. If you want to raise a child who doesn’t text or talk on his cell phone while driving, it’s vital that you don’t either.

Discuss Appropriate Behavior

When it’s time for your child to get his first cell phone, it’s also a good time for you to discuss your family policy regarding accessing and sharing inappropriate content. If applicable, let your child know that his phone may be subject to random searches or that you’ve installed monitoring software to keep tabs on his phone use, and that he should never send messages or share photos that they would be embarrassed for anyone other than the intended recipient to see. Explaining that content is easily shared, both inadvertently and deliberately, and can never be retrieved may help to prevent him from sending potentially embarrassing content.

Declare “Phone Free” Time During Certain Hours

Banning cell phone use during dinner or landline use after a certain time will help your children learn that it’s not appropriate or polite to send messages or make calls at all hours of the day or night. Enforcing the rule and explaining why your family has such a policy also presents a great opportunity for discussion regarding other times and situations where using a cell phone or placing a traditional landline call might not be acceptable.

Talk About Bullying

Bullying and peer harassment is a very real problem for today’s youth, and it extends far beyond the boundaries of school property. Modern technology allows cruel kids to reach their victims through social networking sites, email and text messages for what often amounts to round-the-clock torment. Talking about cyber-bullying, how to handle it and why it’s wrong before giving your child his first cell phone can also help to open a dialogue about the subject of bullying in general, which can offer you some valuable insights. Explain to your child that even sharing a message with cruel content written by someone else is cyber-bullying, and that it’s never okay to participate in pranks that cause other people pain. It’s also wise to teach him how to deal with any cyber-bullying that he might encounter, so that he’s prepared in the event of this all-too-common occurrence.

In addition to teaching your children the rules governing public cell phone use, inappropriate content, and the basics of cyber-bullying, you should take the time to explain the proper methods for addressing someone after they answer the phone, asking to speak with a member of the household, and answering the phone in a polite, friendly manner.