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Kids and Homes with Guns

2K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  AMH 
#1 ·
The thread about doctors asking about guns at home made me think about guns in the homes of your children’s playmates.

During a recent conversation with a client, the client indicated that before he will let his two small daughters go to a friend’s house, he will ask the parents if they have guns in the house. If they say yes, he will not let his daughters go there. It doesn’t matter if the guns are locked up or not. Guns in house = his kids can’t go there.

My daughter is an adult now. When she was a child, I was not a gun guy. It never occurred to me to ask if a friend’s parents had guns or not.

However, I think that now if I had a small child, I would also ask about guns in her playmates homes. After all, we have all seen some real idiots handling guns at the range.

I would want to feel comfortable that the parents took gun safety seriously before I let my daughter go to their home.

Now, keep in mind that my daughter would be well versed in gun safety. If she was too young to handle guns, she would have the Eddie Eagle indoctrination. If she was older, she would be trained in safe gun handling.

The problem is that if a small child is playing in a home where gun safety is lax, even her training may not help if some stupid kid pulls out his dad’s blast-a-tron 2000 and starts playing with it.

My daughter is now in a serious relationship that may lead to wedding bells and eventually grand-babies.

So I guess I’m a little curious. What do you parents with small children do to make sure they don’t end up playing in a home that has a lax attitude about gun safety?
 
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#2 ·
Asking questions is the short answer. I no longer have small children but I always became familiar with the parents who hosted my kids for stayover's. I wanted to know how their guns were secured. Bad answers or vibes = no stayover. Beyond that "life's a crapshoot" with our only intervention being logic and prayer.
 
#3 ·
Why guns? What other questions do you ask? Do they have drugs in the house? Poisons? A mean dog? A swimming pool? Other potential risks?
It always amazes me that guns are singled out as "dangerous" objects, while so many really dangerous things are not ever considered. When my children were small I wanted to meet the parents of their friends before they went for a visit. As they got older, they were knowlegeable enough to recognize potential dangers and leave immediately.
 
#4 ·
Why guns? What other questions do you ask? Do they have drugs in the house? Poisons? A mean dog? A swimming pool? Other potential risks?
It always amazes me that guns are singled out as "dangerous" objects, while so many really dangerous things are not ever considered.
I have to say I agree here. Guns are not the only culprits in home accidents. As mentioned, swimming pools, unsecured medication, and so on, can be just as dangerous (if not more so) than guns.

I grew up on a farm, and most of my cousins lived on farms as well. When we went over to each other's houses, I can't tell you how many times we got close to being killed by falling out of hay lofts, getting run over by tractors (my cousin spent a week in a wheel chair because of this very thing), being stabbed and/or cut on various sharp objects, things falling on us (I have a scar on the top of my head from being hit with a boot with ice cleats three inches long), getting lost in the woods, eating berries that we couldn't identify, riding our bikes in the middle of the road, kicking bee hives we thought were empty, only to have a swarm of angry bees take exception to it and come after us with a vengeance, falling through the ice on the pond behind grandpa's house, playing tag in the barn and falling through a feeding chute, almost cutting our fingers off trying to help cut down "rag weed" with a cycle, falling out of trees, starting forest fires (my brother and cousin had a LOT of explaining to do)... You name it. I can't tell you how much of our blood was spilt, or how many bones were broken, bruises found, teeth lost, scars earned, or skulls rattled in those years.

If my parents were half as paranoid as I think they should have been we would have been locked in bubbles and never let out. But there is a certain amount of risk in everything and everywhere we let our children go. A gun accident was the least of my family's worries while we were out and about. Looking back on my childhood, it's a wonder how any of us survived past our twelfth birthdays.

We all grew up around guns and to be quite honest, they were boring compared to some of the crap we would get ourselves into. We all knew that guns had specific purposes and they were something you just didn't play with. You gained a quick respect for things that could seriously hurt you.

By the time I was thirteen I was medal and wood working. I was in my Dad's shop with blow torches, electric saws, arch welders, and drills, a gun was boring compared to having the power to make metal melt and control what shape it took.

I was proud that I showed enough responsibility to be trusted with those tools.

I think a child who's taught about responsibility will also learn about safety.

I can't think of one time I entered my Dad's shop, and didn't put on safety glasses before I picked up a saw, or a mask before I picked up a torch, or gloves before I started heating metal, or started the vents before I sandblasted. I learned about responsibility with those tools and because of that I learned about safety with them as well. When it came to learning about guns it was the same way. Safety comes with responsibility, and I think responsibility comes with respect.

No, you have no control over what level of knowledge your kid's friends have, but teaching your child not to be afraid and to say, "You know what, I don't think that's a good idea," could go a long way.

With all the stupid things we did, I'm sure there were times when at least one of us stood up and said, "You know what, I don't think it's a good idea to play tag with pitchforks," or "Maybe we shouldn't see if we can ride our bikes on the barn roof," or "No, I'm not going to see what it feels like to stick my finger in that open socket."

Ultimately, I believe that it's not about how much we shelter our children, it's about how much we teach them to respect dangerous things and to avoid being careless with them and around them.
 
#7 · (Edited)
My boys know the rules...and know what to do if a firearm enters the picture. My oldest has his own .22 pistol (see avatar)...although I secure it in our safe...but he has ready access to look at any of our firearms--just as soon as he asks me if he can look at them (and I unlock the safe). The mystery is gone.

My 5 yr old doesn't go anywhere without mommy (i.e. playdates), so the risk is minimal that "a friend" will drag out mommy or daddy's pistol. He also familiar with NRAs Eddie Eagle program.

I do have concerns about home pools (as a former waterpark lifeguard)...I do look for fences, access controls, a pool safety equipment, and make my judgments accordingly.
 
#8 ·
Yes, I ask. I asked the woman that watches my two children if she had a firearm in the home. It wasn't because I was worried about her (if I had been, the kids wouldn't have been staying there), it was so that she could be my protective liason in absentia.

My three year old already knows to not touch a gun. I have tested him with fantastic results. I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say that he let me know that my gun was out. I know he didn't touch it because I was watching without him knowing.

If I have concerns with other things I will ask about them as well. That goes for anything from cleaners, paints, tools or pools.
 
#11 ·
So I guess I’m a little curious. What do you parents with small children do to make sure they don’t end up playing in a home that has a lax attitude about gun safety?
My boys aren't small anymore, but when they were I started by teaching them the Eddie Eagle rules, and defusing their curiosity as soon as I could.

As soon as they were able to repeat the basic mantra (stop, don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult) we made one addition: "If I see a gun and I really, really, really want to touch it, I leave the area and ASK an adult if I can!"

As soon as they'd mastered that, we started talking about what-ifs. What if it's not just lying there but another kid has it? What if you find a gun at grandpa's house? What if you don't know whether it's a real gun or just a toy? What if your friend wants to show you his dad's gun? What if someone is over at our house and you really really really want to show them my handgun? What would you do?

We talked about those, a lot. We talked about our guns being "family business," not to be chattered about with anyone who didn't live with us. We talked about visiting other people and how rude it is for a kid to poke through someone else's private stuff. And so on.

Before I took my own kids to the range (ages 4 through 6 -- somewhere in that range), I taught them the four rules of gun safety ("All guns are always loaded ..." etc). So the kids could each recite the safety rules by that age, and then we started talking about the rules. What's a safe direction? How do you know? If someone says the gun is empty and they hand it to you, what do you do? If you know the gun is empty, should you still be careful where you point it? And on and on and on and on.

Once they began to grasp the safe handling rules, we talked about grownups not always knowing or understanding or following the rules. I told them that if they were ever around when anybody, even an adult, broke the Four Rules, they were to leave the area immediately -- not stick around to argue, not lecture, not wait to see what anyone else would do. Just leave. Immediately. And that I would back them up too!

I taught them a lot of related stuff as they grew, too. We role-played what to say if a friend wanted to get a gun out ("Nah, that's boring. Let's ____ instead.") We talked about keeping our guns quiet between us and, much later, we talked about how to deal with the situation if they were babysitting and one of their charges found a gun.

What I'm getting at is that there is no magic one-size-fits all answer. You've got to talk to your kids, early, about everything that could kill them when you're not around. You teach them to wear seat belts even if their friends don't always buckle up, you teach them to be careful using a kitchen knife, you take them to swimming lessons even if you don't own a pool and never will ... that's the job of a parent, to teach. Firearms are no different.

Talking to other parents is okay, sometimes necessary. Certainly it's necessary to talk to sitters and caregivers about all this.

On the other hand, if you don't trust that person's sense of responsibility to keep firearms away from children's hands, why would you trust their honesty to tell you exactly how irresponsible they are?

More about what we did, and why, here: www.corneredcat.com/TOC.aspx#kids

limatunes said:
No, you have no control over what level of knowledge your kid's friends have, but teaching your child not to be afraid and to say, "You know what, I don't think that's a good idea," could go a long way.
Excellent post, lima. 'Course we don't expect anything else from you!! :smile:

pax
 
#12 ·
As I said before, my kids would be well versed in what to do if they saw a gun. However, that won't help much if Johnny Stupid says, "hey look at this" and pulls his dad's gun out of a drawer and while turning to show it to her, blows her away.

Also, I don't believe that I could be accused of having sheltered my daughter.

I guess the answer is just to make sure you know the people well enough to trust them to keep your kids as safe as they would keep theirs.
 
#13 ·
Agreed Lima, and very much PaulG.

Most every house has deadly weapons in them such as these...



As mentioned by others there are very many dangers within the home in so far as inanimate objects, poisons, _dogs_ (!!!), and worst bad, stupid/mindles, and even predator parents.

The key is education, of both the parent and the child.
OP if available in ones area try to get your child into an NRA 'Eddie Eagle' program.
Personally if a parent came to me asking questions about guns as you have indicated I would tell them yes and I'd try to educate them toward what they are and are not in addition to showing them I am not a moron gun owner. I keep my gunfu related certs and associated patches on open display amongst the family awards and trophies area on the bookshelf. I'd review these with the person and talk briefly about how often I train and impress upon them my own focus toward seriousness of care in handling of not just firearms but providing my own children a safe home environment, to which said concerned parent and their child benefit from.

There are a great many issues, other than guns, to be concerned about when leaving your child in the care of some other persons so called parent...

Mom Helps Cheerleaders Grab Boys' Beer
Neb. Mom Charged With Letting Daughter Lean Out of Van on Highway to Get Beer From SUV
By OSKAR GARCIA Associated Press Writer
OMAHA, Neb. Oct 24, 2007 (AP)
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3771777

- Janq trusts no one
 
#14 ·
+1 to what Limatunes said. That's exactly it! :hand10:
 
#15 ·
Nothing wrong with asking the question of the parents. If they keep their guns safe while kids are around, as mandated by law here in MN, I would have no problem with my kids being there.
 
#16 ·
havegunjoe ~

If you don't trust their common sense to keep the guns out of the kids' reach in the first place ...

And you don't trust their integrity to follow the law as it is written ...

Why in the world would you trust their honesty to answer your question truthfully?

pax
 
#18 ·
I guess this is where my question actually ends up. . . . and I'll answer it myself. :image035:

Before I became a "gun guy" I never thought about people having guns in their homes. My Dad always kept guns and we kids knew never to mess with them without Dad being there, so it was never an issue.

However, after finding the wonderful world of guns, I did meet some very nice "seemingly responsible" people who were into guns. Watching theses people gave me the indication that they were caring responsible parents.

However, when seeing them on the range, a completely different image came to light. That is they were extremely lax on the range; to the point of me deciding deciding to intercede and explain a few rules of gun safety.

Several of these people would respond with statements such as "don't worry, my finger was off the trigger" or "the gun wasn't loaded".

Now these same people, when asked about guns at their homes would reply with an honest answer that wouldn't satisfy me such as "I keep the gun on the shelf in the closet; little Johnny can't reach it".

My answer to myself will have to be that I will want to know the person well enough to know that they are generally responsible before entrusting them with the care of a child.

BUT, I will also ask about how they secure their guns. Sure, they may lie to me but if so, that just means I didn't do very well in the "knowing them well" before letting my kids go there.

If I ask about guns, I may not find out anything useful. But if I don't ask, I definitely won't find out anything.

So, there's my answer.
 
#19 ·
I have two school-age boys (10 and 8). The last three trips to the emergency room (for stitches) involved:

- a broken pool tile with a sharp edge (neighbor's house) - 4 stitches to the foot
- a sharp edge on a plastick book shelf my 8-year-old decided to - unsuccessfully - climb (our house) - 8 stitches to the leg
- a flying tennis racquet randomly launched into the air by a neighbor's kid in a public tennis facility (my son's head broke the racquet's fall) - 4 stitches to the head

My sons have - and use on a regular basis - pump air guns. To date - no weapon-related injuries.

Nothing conclusive about this information other than there are infinite number of things to worry about with regard to your kids playing at home; at neighbor's and at public facilities.

This does not include the number of colds , flus and unnecessary vocabulary additions they have brought home from the playground!
 
#22 ·
These are normal injuries related to items that the child has every right to possess: pool cues, tennis rackets, etc.

When I was a kid we frequently played with hammers, nails, boards, bats, and knives and I have the scars to prove it. There is a certain amount of common sense that we generally assume our kids have, i.e. don't stick a knife in your eye; don't hit your playmate in the head with a hammer. These are acceptable risks of living.

But I can't recall any parent handing us a loaded gun and saying "now be careful and don't shoot yourselves".

A firearm is something that should be NO WHERE NEAR THE CHILD without adult supervision unless it is secured on an adult or elsewhere. It is also an object of curiosity; something a normal kid would want to check out. I would probably feel the same about a workshop with table saws, etc. I would want to make sure that the place is secured from the kids playing with the equipment unless an adult was supervising.

I don't think I am sheltering the child simply because I want to take "reasonable" steps to minimize the chances that my child could be accidently shot.
 
#20 ·
Worry about the homes where there are no guns. Is that because of felonies, drug abuse, restraining orders, dishonorable discharge, alchoholism, family violence, insanity, or just garden variety blissninny stupidity?
 
#21 ·
For more information on this subject matter dangers for our children in and about ones home be it our own or that of a neighbor or 'friend', take a peek at this resource and associated stats from the CDC;

Injuries Among Children and Adolescents

Injury and violence are serious threats to the health and well-being of children and adolescents in the United States. Children and adolescents are at high risk for many injuries that can lead to death or disability. Through research and a range of activities, CDC's Injury Center is working to protect young Americans from the threat of injury. Below is a directory of links to more information about the types of injury and violence that pose the greatest threat to American youth.



# Child Maltreatment
Each year, hundreds of thousands of children suffer abuse or neglect. In most cases, the abuser is someone known to the child—a parent, family member, teacher, or regular caregiver. Survivors are at increased risk for smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, suicide, and other negative health outcomes.

# Child Passenger Safety
Motor vehicle injuries are the greatest public health problem facing children today. In fact, they are the leading cause of death among children in the United States.

# Fireworks-Related Injuries
All fireworks are dangerous, especially to children.

# Parent Leadership Month Overview
Every day parents and other caring adults can take steps to prevent injury and violence among children.

# Playground Injuries
Each year in the United States, emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries.

# Poisonings
Children, especially those under age 6, are more likely to have unintentional poisonings than older children and adults. Adolescents are also at risk for poisonings, both intentional and unintentional.

# Residential Fire-Related Injuries
Children ages 4 years and younger are among those at highest risk for residential fire deaths and injuries.

# Suicide
Suicide rates among youth remain unacceptably high. It is the third leading cause of death among young people ages 15 to 24.

# Traumatic Brain Injury
Among children ages 0 to 14 years, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) result in an estimated 400,000 emergency department visits each year.

# Water Safety
Drowning is the second leading cause of injury death among children 14 years and younger. And for every child who drowns, three receive emergency department care for non-fatal submersion injuries.

# Young Drivers
Two out of five deaths among U.S. teens are the result of a motor vehicle crash.

# Youth Violence
Youth violence typically involves children, adolescents, and young adults between the ages of 10 and 24. The young person can be the victim, the perpetrator, or both. Youth violence includes aggressive behaviors such as verbal abuse, bullying, hitting, slapping, or fistfighting.

Source - http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/children.htm
As you travel take note of cars as they drive past with children as passengers.
Notice how many have children riding around without being buckled or even in car seats or booster seats riding either alone (again unbuckled) or worst in the arms or on the lap of some adult be they buckled or not (!). I'm totally serious here. My wife and I see this very often and all over the place. And then talk to any police and ask about how often they come across persons who do not have their child booster seats or carriers installed correctly or even fully if at all. My wife and I once saw a mom at a local park just place her infant in a carrier into the back seat of her minivan and then without buckling it or using an attachment base to lock it into she closed the door, backed up, and drove off onto the streets.
My wife and I decided to call 911 and gave a report of that car that time for sake of the child as obviously it was endangered and the adult with it dodn't give two cares about it's safety and welfare.


Then also there is this from the APHA...

American Public Health Association 134th Annual Meeting and Exposition

election from: APHA 2006 - One World: Local Focus
Unintentional Injuries in Children CME/CE

Karen D. Liller, PhD

Overview

Injuries are a leading cause of death both in the United States and globally. More than 50 million Americans experienced a medically treated injury in 2000, resulting in a lifetime cost of $406 billion, with males at greater risk.[1] Injuries are defined as physical damage that occurs due to a transfer of energy or the absence of essentials such as oxygen or heat. The types of energy include kinetic (motion), electrical, chemical, thermal, or radiation.[2] Categories of injuries include those done with harmful intent or intentional injuries (violence) and those done without harmful intent or unintentional injuries.[2]

Unintentional injuries are the leading of death for children in the United States. In 2003, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) reported 10,216 deaths of children between the ages of 0 to 18 years due to unintentional injuries.[3] However, deaths are merely the tip of the iceberg. There were 8,403,181 nonfatal unintentional injuries to children of the same age group in 2005.[4]

A wealth of information related to the incidence and prevalence of unintentional injuries in children was provided at the American Public Health Association annual meeting. Strategies for developing prevention programs and activities are highlighted, and a number of innovative approaches described.
Leading Causes of Children's Unintentional Injury Deaths and Injuries

Children's unintentional injury deaths vary according to age and developmental characteristics. For example, research shows that every minute and a half an infant is seen in a emergency department for an unintentional injury with injuries varying according to the child's developmental stage.[5] A 2001-2004 national study showed that traumatic brain injury was highest in 3-month-old infants and lowest in 12-month-old infants.[5]

Males are often at greater risk, as are minorities and poor children, although this is not the case for all injuries. For children between the ages of 1 and 4 years, the leading cause of unintentional injury death is motor vehicle crash, followed by drowning.[6] For children aged 5-9 years, the leading cause of unintentional injury death is also motor vehicle crashes, followed by fire/burns and drowning.[6] For those aged 10-14 years, motor vehicle crashes significantly lead the other causes of unintentional injury deaths, with nearly 60% of deaths due to motor vehicle crashes, followed by drowning, other land transport accidents, and fires/burns.[6] This too is the case for 15- to 19-year-olds, where nearly 77% of unintentional injury deaths are due to motor vehicle crashes, followed by poisoning and drowning.[6] The increased number of deaths of adolescents from motor vehicle crashes reflects, among many things, the transition of teens from passengers to drivers.

However, for nonfatal injuries, the picture is different. In 2005, the leading cause of nonfatal injuries for children between the ages of 1 and 4 years was unintentional falls (42.6%).[7] This was also true for ages 5-9 years (36.2%) and 10-14 years (26.1%).[7] However, for ages 15-19 years, the leading cause of nonfatal injuries was unintentional struck by/against (18.2%), followed by unintentional falls (14.9%).[7]
Overall Risk Factors

As children grow and develop, so do their risks for injury. Children will gradually encounter more and more injury risks as they are at the same time developing better perceptual and cognitive abilities to evaluate these risks and the motor skills to hopefully avoid them.[8] Keeping the environment free from hazards and caregiver supervision are crucial at this time.[8] As children continue to age, they soon become more independent and take on more responsibility for their own actions and decision-making.[8] Although risk-taking during this time is normal, excessive risky behavior and exposure to high-risk environments can be particularly dangerous.[8]

From infancy through early adolescence, the family is the primary influence for safety.[8] Also important during childhood are peers and community action.[8] Moving through adolescence, peers and social norms and values have greater influence.[8]

Motor Vehicle Injuries. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control reports that of children ages 0-14 years killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2004, half were unrestrained and 1 of 4 involved a driver who had been drinking alcohol.[9] Restraint use (child safety seat, booster seat, or seatbelt) often depends on the driver's restraint use, especially when the driver is a parent.

Unfortunately, studies have repeatedly shown that most children who ride in safety seats are not correctly secured. A recent study showed that key factors that lead to misuse/nonuse among Hispanic parents include inability to afford seats, no tradition of using them in their native country, language barriers, vehicle overcrowding, and lack of knowledge about proper installation and use.[10]

As children get older, the risk for motor vehicle crash increases. Recent national estimates of unintentional pedal cyclist injuries treated in US hospital emergency departments resulting from an encounter with a motor vehicle showed that children, aged 10-14 years, had the highest injury rate, approximately 80% of those injured were male, and a common body part affected was the head, with the majority sustaining traumatic brain injury.[11]

Teenage drivers are the highest group for motor vehicle crashes when assessing miles traveled, number of licensed drivers, and per population.[12] Males are at particular risk as are teen passengers, pedestrians, and bicyclists.[12] Recent recognition of the high crash rates of newly licensed drivers has led to changes in licensing policies and a model known as graduated driver licensing (GDL). Through GDL, exposure to driving risk is managed by keeping new drivers out of high-risk situations (ie, driving at night, driving with teen passengers) until they have reached particular milestones such as a certain age, hours of supervised driving practice, etc.[12]

However, the characteristics of GDL programs vary from state to state.[12] Baker and colleagues reported that the more comprehensive GDL programs achieve reductions of approximately 25% in injury crashes of 16-year-old drivers.[13] If all states in the country adopted comprehensive GDL programs, it is predicted that about 24,000 injury crashes each year might be prevented.[13] In addition, prevention strategies for motor vehicle injuries need to continue to focus on restraint use, placing children in the back seat, and adults serving as positive role models for children by always wearing their seatbelts and obeying traffic safety laws.[12]

Drowning. It has been reported that for every child age 14 years and younger who dies from drowning, 5 receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.[14] These submersions can cause brain damage.[14] The groups at risk for drowning include males, children, and blacks.[14] While children younger than 1 year of age often drown in bathtubs, buckets, or toilets, children between the ages of 1 and 4 years drown most often in residential swimming pools.[14] Alcohol use has been cited to be involved with 25% to 50% of adolescent drownings associated with water recreation.[14]

Boating is a particularly serious risk.[14] Most individuals who die in boating incidents are not wearing personal flotation devices, die due to drowning, and alcohol plays an important role.[14] Personal watercrafts also pose significant injury risks.[14] Preventive strategies for drowning including constant supervision of children around water, using a barrier-like fence to separate pools and other bodies of water from children, emptying water containers, beginning formal swimming lessons for children after they reach the age of 4 years, wearing life vests at all times when boating, following all water safety rules (including no alcohol use), and having adults, through their injury prevention behaviors, serve as positive role models for children.[14,15]

Fires/Burns. The majority of fire deaths occur in the home and most victims die from smoke or toxic gases and not from the burns.[16] Smoking has been cited to be the leading cause of fire-related deaths and cooking is the leading cause of residential fires.[16] Groups at greatest risk include children 4 years of age and younger, older adults, blacks, and Native Americans, poor Americans, rural Americans, and individuals living in manufactured homes or substandard housing.[16] Scald burns are also important because they are the leading cause of nonfatal fire injury.[17] Major fire/burn prevention strategies for children include never leaving children alone around open flames, stoves, or candles; keeping flammable products away from children; having a family fire escape plan and practicing it; installing smoke detectors on every level of the home and in every sleeping area; testing the alarms once a month; replacing batteries at least twice a year and the alarms every 10 years; keeping the hot water heater at no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit; keeping pot handles turned backward while cooking; keeping children out of the kitchen when cooking as much as possible; keeping flammables away from heat sources such as stoves, heaters, and fireplaces; installing fire sprinklers in your home; never smoking in bed or letting a cigarette smolder; and not keeping portable space heaters near flammable materials.[17,18]

Poisonings. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that there were more than 2 million poisoning exposures in 2000, 52.7% of which occurred among children younger than 6 years of age.[19] Almost all exposures occur in the home.[19] The most common exposures for children are ingestion of household products such as cosmetics and personal care products, cleaning substances, pain relievers, foreign bodies, and plants.[19] Adolescents are at real risk for poisonings, both intentional and unintentional.[19] Half of poisonings among teens are classified as suicide attempts.[19] Children aged 1-5 years are more likely to have elevated lead levels if they are poor, of non-Hispanic black race, or live in older housing.[19]

Poisoning safety tips include knowing the national Poison Center Control number (1-800-222-1222), reading all labels and finding out which products or plants are poisonous, locking up poisons and keeping medicines out of the reach of children, not taking medicine in front of children, never calling medicine "candy," never leaving potentially poisonous household products unattended, throwing away old medicines and cleaning products, using child-resistant packaging with medications, using carbon monoxide detectors, and checking the home for lead-based paint or lead in products.[20,21]

Falls. There is an increased risk for falls among children younger than age 5 years, although falls are a risk for all ages.[22] The physical environment is particularly important when it comes to falls, whether it be stairways and windows, clutter, etc. Many serious falls among children occur on playgrounds and during sports and recreational activities. However, falls in the youngest children happen more often in the home environment, on stairs, furniture, and out of windows.[22] Baby walkers are particularly risky for young children, and although the number of injuries related to this product has decreased greatly over the years, children are still injured from this product at an unacceptably high rate.[22]

Many playground injuries have also been attributed to falls. A study conducted in 2 inner-city areas in Indianapolis showed that 1 in every 20 neighborhood children sustained an injury requiring emergency care each year. Falls from playground and other related equipment helped contribute, along with pedestrian and cycling and sports activities to nearly 15% of the injuries.[23]

Some prevention tips for preventing falls include keeping chairs, cribs, and other furniture away from windows; avoiding the use of baby walkers; never leaving children alone on furniture where they may fall; strapping children into high chairs, swings, strollers, etc; removing clutter from floors and stairways; using handrails and safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs; using window guards; and making sure playgrounds have safe equipment and surface covering that is rubber, wood, mulch, or sand.[24]
Prevention Strategies and Future Directions
Prevention Strategies

The Haddon Matrix is a widely used tool for generating a range of injury prevention strategies. The matrix has 4 components that are examined over phases of time. The components include host, agent of injury (energy and its vehicle), the physical environment, and the sociocultural environment. Time factors include pre-event, event, and post-event.[25] If a motor vehicle crash is considered, pre-event is before the motor vehicle crash, event is during the vehicle crash, and post-event is following the crash.

One works through the Haddon Matrix by identifying the host, agent, and environmental factors that determine whether the event (in the case of pre-event) or injuries, along with their particular level of severity, occur during the different points in time. By understanding these factors, appropriate intervention strategies can then be developed. Haddon Countermeasures can also help guide intervention efforts.[25] These 10 measures can be used with a variety of injuries, and focus more on environmental or passive changes than on behavioral changes.[25]

Although the Haddon Matrix and Countermeasures are useful for developing strategies, they provide little guidance about actual planning and evaluation. In contrast, the public health approach, which includes surveillance, risk factor identification, intervention evaluation, and intervention implementation,[25] is primarily focused on planning and evaluation. A combination of approaches using both the Haddon Matrix and the public health approach should provide the greatest chance of success for a prevention strategy.

Injury prevention professionals have long supported that concept that successful interventions include education, legislation, and engineering/environmental changes. An example of this combination is child safety seat use. Much success has occurred due to extensive education, passage of legislation requiring child safety seat in all 50 states, and engineering changes so that seats are now more easily installed, especially with the new systems that do not require a seatbelt.

As interventions are developed, there is a real need for partnerships to be forged between professionals and community members. Partners in program development, implementation, and evaluation may include healthcare providers, educators, injury prevention professionals, parents, coalition members, school representatives, church representatives, engineers, legislators, media, and so on.
Future Directions

Future directions in the field of children's injury prevention involves a number of strategies, including the incorporation of better-tested and more sophisticated educational, legislative, and environmental intervention strategies. An integral component is the continued building of community partnerships, with the inclusion of parents in outreach efforts. A recent study showed that theory-driven, stage-tailored communication may very well enhance parent's exposure to injury prevention communication materials.[26] Also, it was found that computer technology and tailored messages can be effectively used through kiosks to deliver injury prevention messages in pediatric emergency departments that serve low-income, low-literacy families.[27] Mothers have often been targeted for injury prevention research and outreach; however, fathers should also be included and supported.[28]

Although all types of children's unintentional injuries need to be closely monitored, the rate of all-terrain vehicle (ATV)-related injuries continues to increase. Data from a level 1 pediatric trauma center in Dallas showed the incidence of children admitted for ATV-related injuries increased from 0.9% of admissions in 2000 to 2.4% of admissions in 2005 -- representing a 322% increase.[29] The median age for these injuries was 8.6 years and 82% of the children were not wearing protective gear at the time of the injury.[29] Another study showed that children who had been treated for an ATV injury had a very high rate of recidivism of ATV use.[30]

The ATV issue is a prime example of how there is a need for more creative and innovative strategies to combat injuries. Great strides have been made in children's injury prevention and there is much to be proud of. However, the morbidity and mortality related to injuries are still unacceptably high and new solutions are needed. These may include a greater focus on behavioral or environmental changes, or most likely, a combination of both. By working together and building on what has been learned in the past, healthcare professionals can and will make a difference.

Source - http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/553273
How many people have ATVs and other motorized vehicles available at their home for use by children and their childrens friends, available without adult supervision or better yet proper use of safety gear and vehicle operations training.
In a town adjacent to me roughly 60 days ago a boy was very badly injured with spine, neck, and head injuries due to operating an ATV in the dark without adult supervision wearing no even a helmet while racing it at speeds greater than is sensible through woods.

A person not having a gun in the hose or it being locked up properly is not a guarantee or even indicator of relative safety within the home for themself, their own children, nor visitors and their own children.
Largely though the question comes back to not what is in the house or accessible but education of ones own child toward safety and sensibleness as well as one as a parent properly vetting the children our own children play with and the parents too of those children, who just might expose to harm or even kill our own be it unintentional or not.

- Janq
 
#23 ·
But I can't recall any parent handing us a loaded gun and saying "now be careful and don't shoot yourselves".
Times sure have changed...

See www.corneredcat.com/Kids/1932.aspx for a heartwarming picture & story from an old guy I met online.

My brother received a BB gun from my parents for his 5th birthday. He used it, unsupervised, just about every day. At age 8, he received a 20 gauge shotgun and regularly hunted birds with it -- again, unsupervised.

I'm a girl, so I didn't get those benefits. :smile: I got to use his BB gun when he was tired of it, and the shotgun whenever dad relented and agreed to take the girl along.

Wasn't all that long ago, either. Mid '70's, early 80's.

Am I saying to leave your guns unlocked? HECK NO. Lock 'em up.

But don't handicap your children or underestimate them. Teach them what they need to know, and hold them accountable for knowing it.

pax
 
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