I wish I had about 200 more pages to talk about safety with you. This topic, from the deep discussion of athletic overuse injuries in Matea Wasend’s feature article, to the small stuff like the best kind of fan to buy to keep curious little fingers safe (found in our Chatter section), touches every aspect of our lives. I could put together a hundred articles, easily.
We all do dumb things that eschew safety, like the fairly recent time I decided not to limber up before a softball game, and then pulled a quad on a run to first base. I also have a faint scar on my right hand from when I was about 10 years old and thought I could stop a bike wheel from spinning just by inserting my hand between the spokes. Some kinds of safety we learn, just from our mistakes. Other stuff — we need someone to educate us.
In this issue especially, but also in subsequent issues, I will be devoting space to safety education. From window cord strangulation, to the proper protective eyewear for particular sports, to the type of crib and crib bumper you should be buying — those are the types of things that I don’t want you, or your children, to have to learn about from making a mistake.
So this month, I urge you to take a moment to reflect on our tips on how to take action when you have a lost child; why, if you have a teenager, it’s important to be aware of the latest trends in drug use; and how the leading cause of a young athlete’s visit to the emergency room is overuse injury-related.
And as for the month of July, you had better know this already: use your sunscreen and reapply every two hours and stay hydrated. Keep your pets out of unattended cars; never leave your child alone near a body of water; and make sure that bike helmet is worn with every trip and fits snugly — both parent and child.
Be safe.
