November is National Child Safety and Prevention Month. This event is designed to shine a light on the dangers many of our children are facing. Read on to learn more about this month of awareness.
Are The Kids Alright?
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Child Injury Report shows that each year, roughly 12,175 children aged 0 to 19 die each year in the United States from an unintentional and often preventable injury. When considering water safety alone, the CDC reports that an estimated 9.2 million children annually had an emergency department visit for an unintentional injury.
Put plainly, kids face hazards each and every day. Throughout this post, we’ll offer some tips to keep children safe. To this end, we’ll be talking about water safety and beyond.
Water Safety for Child Safety and Protection Month
As we often mention on this blog, drowning is a leading cause of injury or death for children one-to-four years of age. Whenever your young child is standing near water, or about to go for a swim, it is crucial to keep safety top of mind. For National Child Safety and Prevention Month, let’s start with this topic that is near and dear to our readers’ hearts.
Don’t Swim Alone
First and foremost, no child should ever swim alone. Danger often happens when no one is watching. Parents and guardians should always stay keenly aware of any nearby bodies of water. This includes swimming pools, bathtubs, ponds, ditches, fountains, watering cans, kiddie pools… you name it.
It only takes enough water to cover the mouth and nose to be a drowning risk. If a child goes missing, everyone should always start looking by checking any nearby water. There are plenty of risks for kids, but drowning is the biggest one. Any delay could end up in a fatal tragedy.
Make Sure Everyone Knows the Rules
For parents, a key to safety, both near and far from the water, should be a set of well-established rules. For Child Safety and Prevention month, develop rules based on your personal situation. Next, confirm that every child and adult understands them. At the very least, this should include ideas like:
- No pushing or roughhousing.
- No running.
- Stay away from the water.
- Only swim when supervised.
Active Supervision
When watching children, adults should stay absolutely focused. During National Child Safety and Prevention month and beyond, eliminate distractions while children are in the water. Things like phones, books or conversations with other adults can put your little ones in danger. Instead, practice active supervision to keep kids out of harm’s way.
Safety Fences Save Lives
Finally, here’s a happy medium between the water and the home. Let’s briefly discuss safety fences for National Child Safety and Prevention Month.
By the water, a pool fence can save lives. Around a pool or hot tub, a properly installed pool fence can prevent kids from accessing the water. In addition, it even blocks curious pets from falling into the pool. Here’s a link to our article about the value of pool fences. It has lots of insight for pool owners.
Beyond this, there are fences that can be used in the house. Hardware-mounted safety fences across stairs can prevent curious little ones from taking a tumble. They can also help to prevent kids from getting into rooms that aren’t for them.
Thanksgiving Kitchen Safety
Next, since November is National Child Safety and Prevention Month, let’s talk turkey. During the holidays, there may be more curious kids around than usual. This means that parents need to be extra vigilant! Here are some basic tips to help keep everyone safe:
- Keep hot food or sharp knives away from the edge of the counter.
- Make sure that everyone knows not to touch the stove.
- Protect your fireplace with a sturdy screen.
- Lock up the medicine cabinets to prevent any accidental “tastings.”
These are just a few ideas on how to increase your awareness during National Child Safety and Prevention Month. If you have ideas of your own, feel free to share them with the community!
