Keeping Safe at Any Age

Age 16: eligible to drive

Age 18: eligible to vote

Age 21: eligible to drink a beer or two

Oops, I missed one. Age 20: Leave behind a statistic. What statistic? I'm glad you asked.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines children as anyone aged 0 - 19, and the leading cause of death in children is unintentional injury. Accidents. Car crashes, suffocation, drowning, poisoning, fires, and falls are just a few of the examples.

Our country is getting safer for children - about 30% safer over the last decade. But even with improvement during decade 2.0, we still have issues. Okay, I'll leave the issues behind, but accidents still happen, and happen to the tune of more than 9,000 deaths a year.

The CDC asked several bloggers to help share safety tips, and of course I said "Yes." I'll share some of their common sense recommendations, and I'll point you toward a few web sites chock-full of information.

Common sense isn't as common as it should be, given the - well, common name. For example, under drowning, tips to decrease drowning deaths include this list.

• Learn to swim.
• Watch kids closely around water.

It's a start. Motor Vehicle tips are also common sense, but these take a little more time and effort.

• Always use seat belts & safety seats.
• Use booster seats that are correct for a child's age and weight.
• Use safe-driving agreements or contracts with teens.

Prevention for falls brings in a few items that aren't necessarily "cool" with kids.

• Insist on soft landing surfaces on playgrounds (i.e. sand or wood chips).
• Install protective rails on bunk beds and loft beds.
• Wear a helmet. Listen up, kiddos, Aaron Rodgers wears one.

I promised links.

The CDC has a page they call "Protect the One you Love."

"Color me Safe" is a coloring book available in English or in Spanish.

This site offers free e-cards related to the topic.

Readers, dear readers, I agree to post on these topics for many reasons. Health posts are never paid posts or sponsored. When the CDC calls - well, when the CDC emails - I'm willing to help because I want our world to get better, not worse, for the generations that follow. I'm teaching one of those generations right now. If I can make a difference, if I can make a suggestion that prevents a child from getting hurt, it's more than worth the blog space.

I'm serious about the disclaimer. This is not a paid post. I'm also serious about making a difference. The U.S. has a higher death rate from preventable injury than Sweden, Norway, the U.K., France, Canada, Australia.... isn't it sad that the list goes on? Let's change it, folks. Add a safety suggestion in the comments or post one on Twitter. Be sure you copy it to @CDCgov so the CDC folk see it, too.

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