Letting kids be kids while preventing injury
Posted by Sandy on 27th March 2008
Don Martin has an excellent article this morning in the Calgary Herald entitled “Childhood injury prevention must top to-do list.” I agree entirely that childhood injury prevention should be at the top of the federal government’s list of priorities. However, I would go one step further and suggest it be at the top of every parent’s list as well — without overdoing it. Because, as Martin suggests, there is a fine line between over-protecting our children and straitjacketing them.
“Short of mandatory helmets for all outdoor activity, obligatory life-jackets for wading pool paddles and airbag-equipped toboggans or tricycles, being a kid living outside a parental cocoon invariably means bad accidents happen.”
A new report was quietly released by the federal government yesterday, called “Reaching for the Top” by Dr. Kellie Leitch, that includes recommendations on how to reduce accidents through education and awareness. As Martin writes, the report makes an honourable attempt to strike a balance because accidents do happen, some preventable.
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