Guest Columnist
by Kristine Schimek Child Life Specialist, SAFE KIDS Coordinator
Keep kids safe during days of summer
It's a dilemma many parents face: Your children will soon be home for summer vacation, but you'll still be working. Are they old enough to stay home alone? It's a difficult question because physical and mental maturity varies widely from one child to the next.
The National SAFE KIDS Coalition, which includes MeritCare Children's Hospital, recommends children not be left alone before the age of 12. If, after careful consideration, you have decided your children are mature enough to stay home alone, here are some tips to help ensure their safety.
- Tell your child where you will be, how you can be reached and when you will return home. If you have a beeper or cellular phone number, leave it with the child.
- Place all emergency phone numbers and the phone number of a friend or neighbor in a visible place near all phones.
- Remind your child to get out of the house immediately if the smoke alarm or carbon monoxide alarm sounds, and to call the fire department from a neighbor's house.
- Show your child where the first aid kit is and how to use items in it.
- Prepare a snack or meal for your child in advance, preferably one that does not need to be heated on a stove or in an oven.
- Come up with agreed-upon rules about having friends over while you're away.
- Insist your child use the proper safety gear while cycling, in-line skating, skateboarding or riding a scooter.
The benefits of safety gear
More and more children — and their parents — wear helmets. It's great to see, and so much better than seeing a child hospitalized for a head injury. It's worth the effort, too; bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent and brain injury by as much as 88 percent.
Tips for helmet wear:
- Use the right helmet for the sport. Many different helmets are now available — one for biking, another for in-line skating, another for skateboarding. They're built differently, so get the one suited for the sport. Or, consider a multi-sport helmet. That works well, too.
- Make sure the helmet fits and is worn properly. A common mistake it to wear the helmet too far back on the head and with straps too loose.
- Replace your child's helmet every three years and always replace a helmet that has been in a crash.
- Your children learn by watching you. Be a role model and wear a helmet.
The National SAFE KIDS organization is the first and only organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury — the number-one killer of children ages 14 and under. We at MeritCare Children's Hospital are very pleased to be able to lead the Fargo-Moorhead SAFE KIDS Coalition. Donations to the Children's Miracle Network make it possible. And anytime you have questions about safety, feel free to call the SAFE KIDS line at (701) 234-SAFE (7233). Visit children.meritcare.com and click on Safe & Sound.
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