Statistics from CDC on playground injuries show lots of trips to the ER

by Charlene Prince Birkeland (Subscribe to Charlene Prince Birkeland's posts) Feb 16th 2006 6:02PM

Categories: Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Health & Safety, Development

I'm always a little nervous when I look over at my son hanging from the monkey bars at the playground. He can't swing from bar to bar on his own yet, but likes to hold on and then drop to his feet while yelling, "Boo Yeah!" (such a boy!). I won't even let him wear hooded sweaters or jackets at the park after reading a story about a little girl who nearly choked to death going down a slide when a key holder got wrapped around her neck. Call me paranoid, I know, but it's just something gives me a little peace of mind.

Whatever your playground parenting style, some new stats may have you thinking about other ways to keep your child safe when at the playground. HealthDay News reports that according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 200,000 kids are treated at hospitals for injuries sustained at playgrounds. And while boys may seem more rough and tumble, it's the girls who get hurt more than boys. The CDC also reports that 45 percent of the injuries are major, including fractures, concussions and even amputations.

These numbers won't make me hover all the time...just some of the time.

Source

Comments (11)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

That Girl 2-16-2006 @ 7:18PM

I often think that other people dont parse what statistics mean enough to do anything but repsons in a fear-based way.
For instance, the oft-quoted statistic that 90% of car accidents happen within 15 miles of your own home. Well, generally, i would venture to say that 90% of your trips in the car stay within a 15-mile perimeter so it's a given that most accidents would happen within that radius.
i would think that the playground area would be the place where most kids are more wild than they are in other places (for instance, the library) and therefore more lible to get hurt than any other place.
It would be more helpful to see what the rate is compared to overall accidents when you're judging how dangerous a particular place is for anyone.

Melissa 2-16-2006 @ 8:01PM

Every one of my siblings and I were hurt on the playground in Elementary school. And in preschool all of the boys in our family - 8 in totla had stitches on their face from some fall. Maybe it is the tendancy of boys to act like super hero's. I don't know. I hope my girls make it through without injurys. I am like you though on the hodded sweatshirts.

ann adams 2-16-2006 @ 8:10PM

Very few manufactuers make them for young kids anymore and I think there may be a law, at least in CA, but the first thing I do is cut the drawstring out of a jacket hood.

I hold my breath too even now that the girls are older.

Matthew Miller 2-16-2006 @ 8:13PM

Numbers are such tricky things. According to the US Census bureaum, there's 38.4 million elementary-school-age (5-13 years) children in the US. (HealthDay doesn't say, but according to the CDC's website, the 200,000 statistic is for kids 14 and under.

That doesn't mesh up exactly, but roughly, it means 1 in 180 kids go to the ER yearly. For serious injuries, it's about 1 in 400.

Interestingly (um, interesting if you're a bit morbid -- sorry), the number of kids 14 and under injured in automobile accidents yearly is also around 200,000, but a much, much higher percentage of those are severe or even fatal.

So anyway, 1 in 400 is still a bit scary, but puts things in a bit of perspective for me and hopefully for others as well.

Nicola 2-16-2006 @ 8:33PM

I love to watch my son enjoy the playground and, I'll be perfectly honest, up to this point I hadn't been too worried about injuries. I keep a close eye on him, but it isn't realistic to expect that he'll never have a playground injury. As a child I fractured my ribs and on another occasion bit through my bottom lip requiring many stitches, both on the playground *at school*. Thanks so much -- another worry!

ann adams 2-16-2006 @ 8:50PM

Or, to put it another way, we've had the normal fractures and bruises
(not that many) and, for as far back as anyone can go in this city's
history, only one fatality. It was a freakish accident that would
probably never happen again.Playgrounds are much safer than
cars. Almost everything is much safer than cars.

kellys 2-16-2006 @ 10:11PM

Why is it that we can only get this kind of news on a blog. I am grateful for getting it but wish the news would carry important stuff like this. I have been looking forward to taking my little girl to the park and playing this spring. Now I will be just antoher paranoid parent. Oh well. She's worth it. Thank you for letting me know the news.

Matthew Miller 2-16-2006 @ 10:28PM

Kellys -- what, your local news doesn't have features like "Shocking Expose: Playgrounds of Death!" on slow news nights? I thought that was a universal constant....

Carrie 2-17-2006 @ 12:20AM

There was a study done in England that showed that when parents are nearby, kids are more likely to get hurt on playgrounds. Apparently they take more chances when we're there.

Mary 2-17-2006 @ 8:19AM

It's always a matter of evaluating risk. I have a theory about why more girls are injured than boys: they're less practiced at physical play, and thus poorer at evaluating risks. Ironically, if we let our children take some risks (sensible ones, not outrageous ones), they are less likely to be injured than if we never do.

I read an interesting study years ago that indicated that children who were "hovered over", were *more* likely to be injured than kids who were given freer reign. That's because they've had less chance to learn for themselves what's safe and what's not.

When I take my tots to the playground, I never lift them someplace they can't climb themselves. They'll see the bigger kids swarming up to a platform, and they'll want me to lift them up there. Even if it's only three feet off the ground, I'll say "If you can't climb up by yourself, it's not safe for you." When they can climb up by themselves, then I let them. Letting their capability determine what they do reduces the risk of injury immensely.

And after all, who among us got through our childhood without a few bumps and bruises? I had stitches as a child, my brother broke his arm. None of us WANT to see this happen to our kids, but most of us live to tell the tale - even brag about it!

LS 2-17-2006 @ 4:01PM

BRAVO, MARY!!!!

Every time I read something like this, I have to wonder, "how did any of us EVER make it through our childhood?"

This is coming from a tomboy who used to ride my bike through the forest preserves without escort, climb to the top of the monkey bars and jump off, slide face-first down the 'tornado slide' (the twisty metal ones), and learned to filet a fish at the tender age of 6. My older brothers rode in cars with no carseats, laying in the back window watching the world go by! Played with bb guns. Bows and arrows.

I believe in keeping my son safe, but I also believe in letting him be a kid. Is he going to fall and bonk his head? Of course. He's a little boy, he's going to experience scratches, cuts, bruises, and every one of them will earn him a hug from his mom, a band-aid (remember how proud we were of our band-aids?), and a swat on the backside with the admonition, "Go get 'em, Tiger!" And he'll run off, with visions of his next adventure swirling through his head, and a BIG SMILE on his face!

Long Live Childhood!!!

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