Unintentional injuries is the leading cause of mortality of children newborn to age 19 (DeGeorge et al., 2020). These accidental injuries can be prevented with preparation and proper education and prevention strategies. Working with kids from a young age and providing information in an easy-to-understand format with frequent repetition is helpful when providing children with new safety skills. Empowering kids with the knowledge to help them navigate their world safely is essential.
Lil’ Iguana’s Children’s Safety Foundation (LICSF): Provides a multitude of proactive lessons to teach children about personal safety. Lessons include in-person as well as virtual options on programs from injury prevention, online safety, reporting abuse and many more. Programs - Lil' Iguana
Biking: Helmets are required for all riders under the age of 16. Making sure you children are always wearing helmets while riding their bikes helps to prevent traumatic brain injuries. See here for more NH Bike laws- bicycle-safety-rules.pdf
Fire Safety: Fires can cause loss to homes and community spaces, personal injury and death. The National Fire Protection Agency's community resource "Sparky's School House" has been around since 1980's and provides interactive and engaging lessons to young learners about fire safety and prevention. Sparky School House: Teach Fire Safety. Save Lives.
Wear a seatbelt: Ensuring your child is not only wearing a seatbelt in the car, but also in an appropriate seat is crucial to preventing harm during a crash. All riders under 18 years of age must be buckled while in the car. Children under 7 are also required to be in a federally approved child safety seat. BeSeatSmartNH | Keeping New Hampshire Children Safe! Can help you better understand NH guidance and provides a list of local resources for support!
Gun Safety: While many homes in NH have guns, ensuring that guns are kept safety stored and locked away is essential in preventing accidental injury and death. Project Child Safe has been providing free resources for adults and educators on gun safety. "Stop. Don't Touch. Walk Away. Tell an Adult." Lessons for Kids – Project Childsafe
DeGeorge, K. C., Neltner, C. E., & Neltner, B. T. (2020). Prevention of unintentional childhood injury. American family physician, 102(7), 411-417.