Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Posts Tagged ‘parents’

In the event of an injury to your son or daughter, you experience doubts and a sense of anxiety about  your child.  In a great article from WHYY news it states: “In the aftermath of a child’s injury, parents often struggle with pain of their own.”

The article explains a new study from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and examines how parents cope psychologically after a child is injured.

According to the study, “Doctors at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital found that one month after a child’s injury, 37 percent of parents experienced symptoms of traumatic stress including high levels of anxiety.”

In the event of an injury to your child, you may experience these same kinds of symptoms.  We have found an excellent website to help parents deal with the trauma after an accident or injury. AfterTheInjury is a great website with alot of resources.

A  recent article published by the Shreveport Times reminds us of what we need to do to protect our children when  riding on a escalator. It is all too common for kids to be injured on these machines in malls and shopping centers. The article outlines safety precautions for Parents to protect children on escalators.

Some  tips include having your child remain in the center of the escalator,  removing your child from his/her  stroller before getting on the escalator, in addition to other tips parents should be aware of to avoid a child injury involving a escalator.  As a public service, we provide you with up to date safety information in an effort to help you become more aware of unintentional injuries to children.

Read this article.

The Internet offers a tremendous wealth of information and content at our disposal.  Sadly, it’s also become a cyberland where sexual predators prey. 

 The FBI has published a document entitled, “A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety.”   Here are 5 questions to ask yourself that might indicate your child is at risk.

1. Does your child spend an inordinate amount of time online, especially at night?

2. Have you found pornography on your child’s computer?

3. Does your child receive calls from men you don’t know or do they ever make long distance calls to numbers you don’t recognize?  

4. Does your child ever turn off the computer monitor quickly or change the screen when you enter the room?

5. Does your child use an on-line account belonging to someone else?

If you answered yes to these questions, your child might be at risk.  In Part 2, we’ll list some answers that the FBI offers to those concerned.

Having a hard time finding the right toy for your child this holiday season? Does your child want that “big boy” toy that everyone else has? Be careful about what you choose for your child and factor in the age and how safe it is for them as noted in a recent news article. As stated in the article, “Toys can teach your child a lot. Even if they aren’t always educational, they always should be fun, and of course they always should be safe. Like your mom said, it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.”

This article also talks about how to check for the age requirements and how to make sure your not buying a toy that is too advanced for even bright children.  Toys with small pieces and objects that can be swallowed, or scooters and bikes that seem like great fun for getting outside but offer dangers and often contribute to child injuries.

Many toys can become  a safety hazard.  Parental supervision is important in the prevention of unintentional child injuries.

Have a safe holiday season!

The Florida Department of  Highway Safety held a public service  event  recently, to educate  local parents about the correct installation of  a child car seat.  The training was  an effort to reduce the number of injuries suffered by children who are either riding unrestrained or in improperly installed safety seats.

The  event, which took place in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas was appropriately called,  ”Help Keep Florida’s Children Safe.”  Officials were on hand to check out  the installation of existing car seats for parents as well as to provide new seats at a discounted price for families in need. 

We commend the efforts of the Florida Department of Highway Safety in educating  parents. We read all too often of tragic accident reports of toddlers or small children  seriously injured because they are riding in a car either unrestrained or not in an age appropriate car safety seat or booster seat.

The unexpected accident does happen.  Always safely secure your children to avoid injury, even when traveling a very short distance.