Is Your Child Safe ENOUGH? Take This Summer Safety Quiz!

Hi Folks — Now for something completely different. This piece of mine recently ran in the Washington Post.  Enjoy!  – L.

Tips for Keeping Your Child Safe. Very, Very Safe 

It’s summertime, which means it’s time for parents to think about safety — only safety. That’s what all the parenting magazines and Web sites will tell you, as will every TV news report that begins, “It was a beautiful summer day until . . . ”As a result, you know how important it is for your children to avoid all swimming pools, playgrounds, lakes, camps, parks, bugs, balls, hoses, horses, exercise, soap bubbles, sunbeams, sand, sugar and, of course, other children.

If you are still considering allowing your child to play outdoors this summer, go right ahead, you risk junkie! But first, heed these tips. Some were gleaned from reliable sources, others I might have made up. It makes sense to take some precautions, but can you tell the difference?

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1. Limit children’s sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

2 . Children should watch TV or text during peak sun hours.

3 . Discourage children from moving rapidly when they see insects — movement encourages insects to bite.

4. If an insect alights on your child’s arm or leg, remove that limb.

5. Do not let your children dive.

6 . Do not let your children lift anything heavier than a wet towel. 

7 . Touch your toddler at all times to check body temperatures.

8. Touch your child’s wrist at all times to check for a pulse.

9. Use softer-than-standard baseballs and safety release bases to reduce baseball-related injuries. 

1 0. Use charades to pantomime football plays to reduce the possibility of concussions.

11. Avoid dressing your child in bright colors or flowery prints.

12. Choose clothes that cover your child’s shoulders, arms, fingers, legs and face.

13. Sweat and body heat bring on the bugs. Bathe the kids before heading out and try to keep them calm.

14. Give your children sedatives at breakfast and as needed throughout the day.

15. Check out a camp’s play equipment for cracks and dents.

16. Check out whether your child’s day camp is located at a federal prison.

17. Make sure your children come inside after 30 minutes of play for 15 minutes of water and snacks.

18. Make sure your children remember the rule “Step on a crack, time to eat a snack.”

19. Avoid gardens where flowers are in bloom.

20. Enjoy gardens where flowers are dead.

21. Never let your child wait in the car, even for a minute.

22. Always wake your toddlers to drag them across a busy gas station, for safety’s sake.

23. Avoid sweets during picnics.

24.Serve only bran-based desserts.

25. Make sure all home swing sets have nine inches of wood chips beneath the playset.

26. Remove all swings and replace with ottomans.

27. Make sure kids do a series of warm-ups and gentle stretches to get their muscles ready for action.

28 . Do not allow your child to play tag before being assessed by a medical professional.

29 . Stay away from very cold drinks — they can cause cramps.

30. Serve Popsicles at room temperature.

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Answer Key:The odd-numbered tips come from actual parenting resources. The even numbered tips don’t . . . yet.

Sources: Love Our Children USA, Web MD, Consumer Products Safety Commission, New Jersey Department of Children and Families, CBS News, American Academy of Pediatrics, Parents Magazine.

Tip #7: Touch your toddler at all times to check body temperatures. REAL OR NOT?

Science Teachers Weep! School Evacuated for “Chemical Spill”

Hi Folks! This note was posted by a high school student commenting on the story of the school that allowed two students to fry Ferrari red because they weren’t carrying a doctor’s prescription for non-prescription sunblock.   But maybe that school loses to this one, in the sticklers department. – L.

Dear Free-Range Kids: This reminds me of a ‘chemical spill’ my school had a couple months back. Keep in mind this is a high school, with around 800 14-18 year olds walking the halls.

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We were told to evacuate because of a ‘chemical spill’ in one of the science labs a bit before noon. Now, there were some actual dangerous chemicals in some of the rooms, so we evacuated without complaint. Soon, we found out what the ‘chemical spill’ was: mercury. Someone had dropped an old thermometer made of mercury, so the entire school had to be evacuated.

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We had to sit out on the football field for four hours. There were no clouds to block the sun, it was actually fairly chilly out, and about half the school hadn’t had a chance to eat lunch. No one was allowed to leave to stadium, even to grab a sweatshirt that was sitting ten feet away in their car.

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They had to test everyone who had been inside that room that day for traces of mercury. Two hours later, they all came up negative. I got a mild sunburn from that day, which I’m pretty sure was a bigger cancer risk than a bit of mercury.
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Also, since I nearly failed chemistry, I asked my homeroom teacher (who happened to be a science teacher) if the mercury was really that bad for us. He said no, mercury is usually only harmful if ingested. So my entire school was kept out on a lawn freezing our hungry butts off and getting sunburned not only for two hours of our school day, but two hours AFTER school had ended, to ensure no one was licking the mercury off the floor.

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In all, 100 kids got tested — really just their clothes and shoes — or about one eighth of the school. The school is Totino-Grace high school located in Fridley, Minnesota. Here’s a piece about it that ran on KARE 11.
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On a side note, the school did away with the glass and mercury thermometers a couple years ago, but I guess they missed a few. – A Student

WWMCD? (What Would Madame Curie Do?)

Slightly Off Topic but Uber-Safety Gone Mad

Hi Readers! I just learned that the United States Post Office will not allow you to ship anything with a lithium battery — like, say, an iPad — overseas:

Lithium batteries are included in many popular electronic devices such as iPads, Kindles, smartphones, cameras and other electronic devices.  The batteries can explode or catch fire in certain conditions during overseas transport.

This change is required by the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU), both of which currently prohibit lithium batteries in mail shipments that are carried on international commercial air transportation.

USPS management anticipates the regulation to be adjusted by January 1, 2013, with customers being able to mail specific quantities of lithium batteries internationally (including APO/FPO/DPO) if the batteries are properly installed in the electronic device.

Gee, have planes been exploding right and left because a passenger dared to bring a laptop on board a transcontinental flight? Talk about under-reported disasters! Or is this a new and shining case of Safety Madness, wherein the teensy chance of something going disastrously wrong creates an entire new and cumbersome way of doing things? Feel free to take a guess. – L.