Accidents are one of the biggest childhood killers in the UK, causing the death of five children and young people every week. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) state that each year over one million children under the age of 15 are taken to A&E following accidents around the home.
Scary reading, but if you compare this to figures from twenty or thirty years ago a more positive picture emerges. The number of accidents is declining as are deaths. The world appears to be a much safer place, so do we need to rethink our views of child safety? Are we now taking safety for granted, or are we becoming paranoid parents, wrapping our children up in the proverbial cotton wool?
Forty thousand children go to A&E each year from playground accidents. Children can fall and break a limb, they can be hit by swings – any nature of accident can occur. So should we avoid them?
No, say RoSPA. ‘Play parks should be as exciting as possible and children should be able to climb. The key reason this is important is that if children have exciting places to go to, they will avoid looking for excitement in building sites and railways.’
There is also the element that it is important to weigh up the risks against the gains. As RoSPA say, ‘We need to ask – is it better to break a wrist playing outside, or to develop RSI on computer games?’
One area that has changed over the last 20 years is the area of child protection. Parents now have to deal with the dangers posed by the internet.
NSPCC head of child protection awareness Chris Cloke says, ‘Around half of young people who responded to an NSPCC poll said they had suffered an “unwanted experience’ while online. And previous research found that nearly half of young people (46 per cent) gave out personal information – such as photos or phone numbers – to someone they met online.’
There are more dangers lurking on the internet than many of us realise whereas ‘stranger danger’ is actually less of a problem than many people perceive. According to NSPCC figures, one in six children experience serious maltreatment by their parents. It is much rarer for a child to be abducted by someone they do not know. Perhaps the ‘Don’t talk to strangers’ mantra needs to be updated.
The 0-four age group are the group most at risk of accidents in the homes, with falls accounting for the vast majority of accidents. But fire causes the most deaths, most of which are preventable.
Improvements in product design and the more widespread use of safety devices such as smoke alarms has helped cut accidents. Mike Hayes is project director for Child Accident Prevention Trust. ‘Smoke alarms have had a massive impact but so have other measures – child resistant medicine bottles, safety gates and fire guards are more widely used. New homes now have safety glass in low level windows and doors. Safety products do make a difference.’
In recent years we have seen improvements to current safety products with stair-gates designed to be safer, as well as new products on the market, such as finger protectors which can be attached to the hinges of doors to prevent little fingers getting caught.
But as Mike Hayes says, it is not enough to rely on safety products: ‘Not everything can be addressed by safety products and parents still need to be made aware of dangers. Parents can’t become complacent. Although there is good evidence that thermostatic temperature valves work to prevent scalding, children can still drown in bath water. Child resistant lighters should still be kept out of children’s reach.’
Can a house be made totally child proof? No, say RoSPA. ‘You can never make a house totally child proof and we don’t want to see people go over the top. What is child resistant one day won’t be the next. We advise people to make their house child friendly not child proof.’
There is also good news about road safety. Despite increased car usage, children today are much less likely to be hit or killed in a road traffic accident today than 20 years ago. Developments in medical care takes some credit, as do the introduction of lower speed limits in built-up areas, and improved design of cars, but the fact that children are far less likely to play out in the street also plays its part. So how does this impact on children’s development of road safety skills?
‘If children are cocooned in cars going to and from school, they are removed from life,’ say RoSPA. ‘They don’t have the chance to walk or cycle with parents, and for the parents to talk to them about hazards and how to deal with them. Walking provides a good opportunity for discussion on road safety.’
The Department of Transport advise that parents should begin to teach road safety as early as possible, and that by the age of five or six, parents can start to build up to letting children cross quiet roads near their home while watching from the pavement.
In September 2006 the new child car seats legislation came into force, while a mere twenty years ago, child car seats were virtually unheard of. But car seats will only protect children in the case of an accident. They won’t prevent the accident happening.
Nobody wants children to be put under unnecessary risk, but at the same time we need to find the right balance. RoSPA advise that children should play as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible. After all, childhood is about learning and exploring, about developing skills. ‘Being a child is a crucial time to learn about hazards. It is important not to wrap children up in cotton wool, leaving them unprepared for adult life.’
Joanne Carmichael – mum to Matthew nine, Anna seven
‘Matthew and Anna are old enough to know not to touch the medicine, and not to cross the road on their own. But the problem as they get older is that they think they are old enough to do more than are allowed.’
Sine Ingram – mum to Lewis five, Thomas two and Morven 11 months
‘My children are friendly and like to talk to strangers. As they get older I am teaching them that they should be wary of talking to people they don’t know.’
Saskia Struthers – mum to Sam four, and Annelies two
‘I worry about the risk of fire sometimes. We have had a home fire safety visit from the fire brigade and Mum and Dad gave us a present of three fire extinguishers – a very useful present and they are small enough to sit in cupboards.’
Jacquie Calderwood – mum to Ruth four, Joshua three, and Grace eight months
‘My nephew was scalded when he was little, so that is one thing I am extra cautious about. As soon as my eldest daughter began toddling I put a stair gate on the kitchen to keep them out, and didn’t allow them in.’
Each year, Child Safety Week run by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) takes place in June. Visit their website for more information capt.org.uk
For more information about the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents visit rospa.com
