Is Your Home’s Play Equipment Safe?
Children ought to have safe places to play. And, if they’re on playground equipment, it should be safe for them to climb and swing and slide on. A child should not be injured or killed because of unsafe playground equipment.
A four-year-old boy died on backyard play equipment three years ago when he fell from monkey bars [...]
Ask “Who, What, Where, When” when it comes to school bus safety
We usually associate the “who, what, where, when” questions to reporters. Traditionally, those are the questions reporters asked and then used as the basis of their reports.
Those four “W” questions are great questions for parents to ask when their young children, or children with special needs, start riding the school bus.
Here are 12 questions by Terri Mauro [...]
Daycare Center Shut Down
Last week, I wrote about a young child who died in July from heat exposure after being left in a van for seven hours. The van was driven by an employee of Yellow Brick Road daycare center. The driver “forgot” the child was in the van and the daycare center did not call the parents by [...]
TVs That Hurt
We buy and use TVs for entertainment and relaxation. We allow our children to watch shows that have our approval. TVs are a common part of our everyday lives. But, do we ever think of how dangerous TVs can be?
Recently, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, released the results of a study on childhood injuries [...]
Beware of School Buses in Parking Lots
Has your child’s school designed a safe system for dropping off and picking up children? Does it have enough adult supervision to make sure children are walking where they are supposed to be walking?
Last January, in a small community in southern Virginia, after school had been in session for months, a young pre-kindergarten student was [...]
Bugaboo Bee Strollers – Brake Failure
I always thought a ‘bugaboo’ was someone or something that was annoying. This stroller can be very annoying — and dangerous.
The manufacturer has recalled its Bugaboo Bee Stroller because its brakes can fail which would allow the stroller to roll away if it’s on an incline. Item code, 580210, is on a label on [...]
The Loss of a Child
There is nothing more devastating than the loss of a child.
Period.
Chuck Collins, a fellow member of the Fairfax Bar Association, wrote a book and created a website, both called Holding Onto Love. Both are full of resources for grieving parents, and the website offers an exchange of coping ideas and comments from others. Chuck and [...]
Should A School Bus Driver Be Allowed to Use A Cell Phone While Driving?
I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want my child on a school bus being driven by a driver who is talking on his cell phone — even if he was using a hands-free device. A school bus driver’s job is hard enough. There are plenty of distractions sitting behind him in the bus. Allowing [...]
Is Your Child at a Safe Daycare Center?
No parents should have to get the news that the place where they took their child was responsible for the death of their child.
In Richmond, about six weeks ago, a 13-month-old baby was left in a van for over four hours. He died from heat exposure. He was left in the van by an employee at [...]
Does Your Child Hear You?
My daughter-in-law is an early childhood educator and a doctoral candidate in Reading at the University of Virginia. She sent me this link to the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association, an organization that educates about and advocates for early detection and access to resources for young chidren with hearing disabilities.
Hearing loss can have a profound effect on your child’s ability [...]