9 minute read
Parenting Pearls
Summer Safety
By Sara Rayvych, MSEd
The summer season is a time for more outdoor play and fun. Most of us, particularly the children, enjoy being in the fresh air and warmer weather. We wait out those long, cold winter months until we can do those special activities that can only take place during the summer. Along with the extra fun comes the extra need for precautions as we set out further from our homes and enjoy more excitement.
Kids thrive on being outdoors. Once the warm weather hits, the kids are practically begging to be let outside. The extra space to run and freedom to enjoy themselves are intoxicating for youngsters. By setting up a few safety measures and a little proper planning, we can give them the freedom and fun along with the safety to enjoy it.
As none of us are experts on everything, in this article, I’m simply pointing out a few areas of concern. Parents should take advantage of their pediatrician’s knowledge and all the safety organizations that publish in-depth safety information on their various areas of expertise.
Helmets and Safety Gear
Helmets and other safety gear exist for important reasons – they keep you and your child safe. But they don’t work if they’re not used properly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked down the street and have seen children wearing helmets in a way that renders them useless; do they think they’re a head ornament? When helmets are worn loosely or too far back on the head, they don’t protect your child where they need it. Even worse, I’ve seen helmets with the strap completely unstrapped. If, chas v’shalom, there’s an accident, does a child really think the helmet will still remain on their head?
Parents should take the time to look online or use the enclosed instructions to ensure their child is wearing helmets and all safety gear correctly – each time. Teach by example and wear your safety gear, too. It takes only a few minutes before an activity to ensure you have the appropriate gear and are using them correctly.
A note on bicycle and scooter behavior. We all need to be menschlech in all of our actions. It’s sad to see how often that can be forgotten when riding, especially on the sidewalk. It’s worth taking a few minutes to point out to children the correct way to pass people after slowing down on the sidewalk and alerting someone to their presence. I’ve seen many children nearly knock people over, scream “move” (or something similar) just before passing, or simply ring their bell incessantly hoping the pedestrian will hear them. Just as we teach bicycle safety before they ride in the street, we also want them to learn safety on the sidewalk and that includes being safe with others using the same path. Fire Safety
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention fire safety. Grills and fire pits are among the few ways we incorporate fire into our summer celebrations. Children need continuous supervision whenever there is a fire present. Families should have more than one responsible adult to help supervise if there will be more than one little person around. Never assume one person can sufficiently watch multiple children; little people are quick and they have no sense of danger. It can be beneficial to have toddlers and the younger kids in a stroller or buckled in in some other way. Baby carriers that are worn by an adult are one way to keep the youngest celebrants close to an adult and secured. Never wear a baby or toddler if you’re the one tending to the fire or food on the BBQ.
Discuss fire safety in advance with children old enough to understand. They should know to not play with fire and not come close to fire. Even if they have been taught fire safety, you shouldn’t rely on that but still keep a good watch over them.
If someone they see is playing with fire, children need to inform an adult. Fire danger isn’t the time to be makpid on lashon hara (nor is that really lashon hara but children can’t always tell the difference). If they see fire, they need to inform an adult immediately. Children should know to never try to deal with the situation themselves. Fire can quickly escalate, chas v’shalom, and children should run rather than take matters into their own hands.
October is Fire Safety Month. The local fire departments have traditionally held special events and it’s worth finding out what’s available when October nears. They can give you far better information than I can. Additionally, they can show children how firefighters look in full gear. It’s important for children to see how firefighters will appear during an emergency. It’s frightening to think about, but I’ve been told by firefighters that little children have become scared of them wearing their full protective equipment during fires and have hid from them rather than allowing a firefighter to bring them to safety. This was especially true if the child felt they were responsible for the fire and was afraid of getting in trouble. Children need to know that reporting a fire and getting to safety is more important than avoiding guilt. Children also should know how a firefighter looks and that they’re the one they should go to in an emergency and not someone to not run from.
Beyond Stranger Danger
We often focus on the dangers of strangers but it needs to be pointed out that children are statistically more at-risk from someone they know and trust than from a stranger, lo aleinu. A full discussion on this is beyond the scope of this article, but I will mention a few points.
Children should know to never accept a ride from anyone without your permission, irrelevant of how well the child knows them. You can give them a brief list of safe adults they can accept a ride with in the event they can’t contact you. It doesn’t matter how well they know, trust, or like the adult in question. If he/she isn’t on the list, then they can’t accept a ride.
Children may benefit from having another trusted adult they can call or rely on should they be unable to reach a parent. There are times when a child has a change in carpool, dismissal or plans fall through, and they’re unable to reach a parent. Sometimes it’s simply that the parent can’t hear the phone. In all of these circumstances, a child should have a second, trusted adult they know they can reach and will go out of their way to be there for them. I personally know of a situation where this system was used, and it kept the unsuspecting child out of the vehicle of a known, risky individual.
You should know where your children are playing and who is supervising them. Even if they’re at a neighbor’s or friend’s house, you should know who is in charge while they’re playing. It’s not uncommon that parents step out and leave someone else temporarily watching the younger ones. Your child and his/her friend may be left under the care of an adult you don’t know, such as a relative of theirs or an older child or sibling. Make sure that whoever is responsible for your child is someone you can trust. Don’t make assumptions about who is supervising your precious child at any given moment.
Safety On the Go
Many families will take advantage of the summer season and enjoy outdoor trips together. Again, children need to be well supervised, particularly in large, public areas. Parents often take their children to these locations, so I will simply point out a few tips.
Children should be taught an emergency phone number to give in case of emergency. We taught our children a phone number set to a tune, and they have been able to sing our phone number from a young age. They should also be shown where to go and who to ask for help. From what I understand, the safest stranger for a child to seek out for help is a woman/mother accompa-
nied by children. If they can’t find a mother with children, then they should know to go to a uniformed staff member. You can point out the staff when you first arrive. Children should know to never go to any other adults no matter what.
Children should be accompanied whenever they go to a public bathroom. There are far too many reports of unmentionable things happening when sick people have realized that unaccompanied children were in a public bathroom.
Another tip I’ve used for traveling with multiple children is to have the children all wear matching camp shirts or other t-shirts – the brighter, the better. While any matching shirt will increase visibility, camp shirts are often uniquely bright and they can help you find a kid in the crowd better. It’s a worthwhile investment to have on hand brightly colored, such as neon, matching t-shirts in your children’s current sizes.
Credit for this tip actually goes to my parents. Take a picture of your child before you leave the house. They should be dressed for the day in whatever they will be wearing or have on them. If they will be wearing a hat, then take one photograph with the hat and one without. There was a local event that our son attended in the community with family friends. He missed their meeting point, and we quickly reported the situation to Shomrim. It was terrifying until he was found. I can’t tell you how hard it is to find a good picture to give to Shomrim or the police, especially under pressure. You can have hundreds of pictures on your phone and none of them are recent enough or a clear view of your child’s face. Additionally, Shomrim
and other adults can use your child’s clothing as another way to identify them. Under stress you don’t remember what they wore, whether they had a hat, and which backpack they’re wearing.
Never leave children unattended in the car – not even for a moment! We’ve heard of too many tragedies to ignore this rule. The internal body temperatures of babies and children heat up faster than adults. Be extra careful if you’re not the usual driver for that carpool or errand. It was often a parent who didn’t usually drop the child off for that carpool or errand who forgot there was a child in the car.
Summer is a great time for outdoor play and family togetherness. Take advantage of the beautiful weather and have a safe summer with your children.
Sara Rayvych, MSEd, has her master’s in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 10 years in Far Rockaway. She can be contacted at RayvychHomeschool@ gmail.com.
