Safety Tips For Kids In Playgrounds

Free booklets are available to help parents and officials protect kids against playground injuries. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Rosemont, Ill., notes there are more than 400,000 playground injuries each year. "Parents and park district officials should inspect the playground for loose or damaged parts, missing bolts, broken swing seats or other hazards," says academy spokesperson John Sarwark. "Look for sharp edges, protrusions or openings that could trap a child's head or body," he adds, noting children should not wear clothing with drawstrings at the playground.

"Drawstrings from a hooded sweatshirt might catch on part of the playground equipment and strangle the child." Children should avoid playgrounds that have only concrete underneath the swings, slides or monkey bars. "Playground surfaces should be made of shock-absorbing material like rubber mats, or loose fill such as fine or medium gravel to a suitable depth, engineered wood fibers, sand or double shredded bark mulch," Sarwark says. "To be effective, areas of loose fill should be contained so the rain will not wash it away or the children will not kick it all over the playground." For the academy's free playground safety brochure, call toll-free at 1-800-824-2663 or send a self-addressed, business size envelope to Playgrounds, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, P.O. Box 1998, Des Plaines, Ill. 60017. The brochure and other safety fact sheets can be downloaded at http://www.aaos.org

[ 06-21-2001: Message edited by: JoJo2 ]

I hope all you parents out there will share your safety tips, so that we can keep as many children as we can out of danger. You don't have to be a parent to add your tips. If you can think of something that your parents taught you that kept you out of danger, or would like to share any safety tips that you happen to know, please add them as well. Thanks

With school ending for the summer, most children will start filling their days with such activities as swimming, bike riding, roller-blading, baseball, or just playing with friends in the park. While these activities offer hours of fun for children, they can also be very dangerous. AMERIGROUP offers the following tips to help keep children safe this summer:

* Check to ensure that metal slides at the park are cool before using. This keeps children from burning themselves.

* Have children play sports, such as baseball or football, away from busy streets.

* Always use protective gear when playing sports or riding bicycles.

* When at the park, designate a meeting time and location in case the group gets split up. Make sure everyone travels in pairs.

* When at the pool, never leave children alone in or near the pool. They should always swim with a buddy.

* The sun's rays are the strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Help keep children from getting burnt or sun poisoning by having them wear sunscreen and also take breaks indoors.