Children and minors spend a lot of time learning, and sometimes that learning includes minor injuries. Children may fall from their bikes or get scrapes and scratches from playing in the yard.
However, many early injuries are serious—and entirely preventable. According to the CDC, about 20 children and teens die, on average, each day due to unintended and largely preventable injuries. In fact, injury is the leading cause of death for children and teens in this country.
School has been back in session for a bit, and it’s time to review how your child is doing. While we expect school to be safe, kids are injured each year when attending classes and taking part in school activities. Now that your child is settling in, here are some questions to ask:
College is a time for growth and freedom, and students are often excited about being on their own. Unfortunately, each year college students are seriously injured and even killed on campus. Sports injuries, slip and fall injuries, and traffic injuries tend to be most common. However, violence caused by hazing and assault also contributes to injuries on campus. In fact, 26.4% of women and 6.8% of men experience sexual violence as undergraduate students.
There are other forms of injury, too. Dorms are often older buildings and may have unsafe flooring, showers, stairways, and other building components. Head injuries, falls, fractures, burns, and other injuries can occur because of these problems. Even bedding provided by colleges has been called into question, after a study found that about 8,200 emergency room visits between 2006 and 2015 were linked to school bunk bed use.
For student athletes, back to school means back to practices, tryouts, and games. It can also mean an increased risk of head injuries, soft tissue injuries, fractures, and other sports injuries.
If you have a student heading back to classes and back to a school or private sports program, here’s what you need to know to keep them safer:
With another school year about to begin for many students, it’s a good time to remember that tens of thousands of students are injured at school. And in fact, the first two months of school are the time when most injuries happen.
Fortunately, there is something parents can do. There are steps you can take to reduce the risk for your children:
In Weston, Miami, and other communities in Southern Florida, youth sports are an important and healthy part of childhood. Sports build discipline, encourage physical fitness, and provide many other physical, emotional, and even academic benefits.
Many sports also carry the risk of head injuries and concussions. While in the past many believed that concussions were less serious than traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), today there is growing evidence that all injuries to the head need to be treated seriously. It is now understood that repeated concussions, especially early in life, can have life-long effects.
Playgrounds in Hollywood, Florida should be a fun and safe place for children to play. Unfortunately, each year about half a million American children are injured on the nation’s playgrounds, according to the CDC (National Centers For Disease Control and Prevention).
Playgrounds are an important part of childhood, offering hours of playtime. They’re also important for developing fitness, large muscle groups, fine motor control, and social skills and some playgrounds also have sensory enrichment options. A few hours at the playground on a sunny Key Largo day should be part of childhood but unfortunately each year the legal team at Flaxman Law Group speaks with worried parents whose children have been injured when playing on playgrounds.
This year, some parents are choosing to homeschool their children to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. While this can mean a lowered risk of sports injury and at-school injuries, it doesn’t mean that virtual school is without risks. Homestead students still face:
At this time of year, as college students in Miami and other areas of Florida head back to school, campus safety is at the forefront of many parents’ minds. While campuses have security and other features to keep students safe, serious injuries can and do occur on college campuses.
Each year, college students are injured or even killed in assaults, fires, pedestrian accidents, car accidents, and other incidents. In many cases, the fractures, head trauma, and other injuries suffered by college students are preventable.
Florida Injury Lawyer Blog