Safety before fun (Health and Safety in General)

Member Name: dibuzz

Product:	Health and Safety in General
Date:	05/09/01 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: too many to list

Disadvantages: can make a child feel confined

I like to think I am safety conscious especially where my kids are concerned but often I am made to feel overprotective. My 5 year old is not allowed across the (busy) road alone but my neighbour's 3 year old is. This is difficult to explain to my son who just thinks I am being mean.

We have recently had speed humps put in the road which has made matters worse as the people trying to take a shortcut from the gridlocked main road just put their foot down between the humps and are going faster in certain places than they did before.

When I was a child we could play anwhere but these days you need to know exactly where your kids are. The local park is out of bounds because of the teenage yobs, drug addicts and a child abuser who all live around there. Although we like to protect our young children from these thoughts, they have to be aware of the dangers and respond better to a true explanation of why they can't go there instead of "because I said so"

Because children are now driven everywhere they don't get as much road sense. If they are taught road safety at an early age it becomes instinctive but how often do we see people cross the road when the red man is showing just to save a few seconds. Sureky those seconds would be better spent telling the child about the traffic lights.

When my eldest son was born babies usually travelled in a carrycot on the back seat but I wasn't keen on that idea so I bought one of "those new fangled car seats". These soon became popular as they could be used anywhere and were much safer. I still see people sat in the front seat of the car holding a baby and it really makes me mad. What I can't understand is that people often spend over £20,000 on a car yet won't pay £50-£100 for a child seat. Often I am behind a car in which there are children stood up between the front seats. There should be a number widely publicised that we can ring and report these
drivers. After all deliberately putting a child in danger is a form of child abuse and should be recognised as such.

I am proud to say that my children instinctively reach for their seat belts and my son was most puzzled the first time he went on a bus (aged 3) and couldn't find his belt. When I told him they don't have them he replied "well that the last time they see me on a bus"

When we give other children a lift in our car we always insist on them wearing their belts. One boy said he wouldn't bother as his parents didn't make him. He was given the choice of put it on or walk. This made us think and we asked our eldest son about it. He said none of his friends were made or encouraged to wear seat belts and they skitted him for doing so but luckily he has the sense to ignore them.

I insist that my children wear a cycle helmet in case they fall off their bikes which is easily done. Recently however my 11 year old has started to "accidently" forget to wear his. Being a suspicious minded mother (aren't we all) I quizzed him about it and he admitted that only one of his mates wears one and the others all call him "gay" for wearing it. I now face a dilemma. Do I insist he wears it and make him miserable or give in and worry all the time he is out?

When I suspected my eldest son was going to crawl I bought a stair gate which is still up 13 years later. Although my youngest is now 5 I have several friends with babies and I can relax when they visit as my house is still baby friendly. We also still use a gate at the top of the stairs at night as my youngest son sleepwalks. We got rid of the fireguard when we realised we hadn't used the fire for 4 years.

I have always kept bleach, toilet cleaner etc. in a locked cupboard and have a childproof catch on the drawer with all the knives and other sharp objects. You can probably imagine how shocked I was when I visited a frie
nd only to find her 6 month old son sucking on a corkscrew. She didn't like to take it off him as he would scream. Sorry but if that was my child he would have had to scream.

Most accidents occur in the home and if we all took a little more care and thought about things from a child's perspective I am sure we could make our homes safer. If you visit friends don't assume they have the same safety standards as you until you have checked. A good friend won't mind if you ask her to remove the tablecloth she's not thought about and don't be tempted to let your child wander further than you like just because everybody else does. Although it is important for children to learn to play together and make their own decisions, safety always comes first.

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