Safety First

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 15 No. 1 (2005) ISSN: 1546-2250 Safety First Webber, Rebecca (2004). Compass Point Books; 24 pages. $19.93. ISBN 0756506263. According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, “every day more than 39,000 children are injured seriously enough to require medical treatment” (2004). Unintentional injuries are “the leading cause of death among children ages 14 and under in the United States” (NSKC 2004). While motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of injury to school-age occupants ages 5-14, many other injuries are caused by pedestrian and bicycle accidents, fires, falls, poisoning and sports to mention a few. These injuries can happen at home, in the neighborhood, at friends’ homes, on bicycles, skateboards, roller blades and at playgrounds. Not all accidents are related to play. Some are the result of just being curious. Much has been written for parents and other trusted adults who oversee the lives of their children. Two recent books on safety were written for easy reading by children. The first book is Safety First by Rebecca Weber. Ms. Weber has woven eye-catching graphics with simple yet effective safety messages. I found the book to be thorough in that she included safety messages for many locations and situations where children spend time. A young reviewer, Katie, age eight, liked the pictures and thought the book would be perfect for first and second graders. As adult readers we thought the book would be great for kindergartners as well. 440 The broad nature of the material covered makes this a very good resource book to develop and promote safe behavior around the house. The chapter “Safe at Home” focuses on the areas that can be the most dangerous to young curious children. The book provides ways to constructively address these behaviors, instead of just saying “NO!” to a child. Finally, this book can provide insight to young readers so they can have some control over the places in their lives. Whether at home, at school, or on the playground, children should be aware of what is going on around them. The second book, Playground Safety by Peggy Pancella, focuses more specifically on playgrounds. It provides more detail and covers safety issues surrounding various pieces of playground equipment. The colorful graphics feature children at play on a variety of equipment. The author provides simple-to-follow tips and guidelines for swings, slides, and climbing equipment, among others. A young reviewer, Peter, age five, thought the pictures were colorful and that the book told him what not to do on the playground. Peter found this book a little longer to read than Safety First. As adult readers we believe Playground Safety can easily be read by second and third graders. A comprehensive playground safety program includes four important points: (1) standards and specifications for new equipment and playground surfacing; (2) a program for maintenance of the equipment and playground surface; (3) guidelines and procedures for playground supervisors; and finally, (4) information directly for the students on safe playground behavior. Playground Safety nicely fits the bill for point four. This book should be available in elementary schools for teachers and aides to use to introduce and reinforce expected behavior on the playground. In the event that a school does not have districtwide playground safety guidelines, Playground Safety can be used. Both Safety First and Playground Safety are appropriate for elementary school libraries. These books could be a focus for PTA fundraising efforts. In addition, the books could be made available for sale at school book fairs. 441 Parents and teachers alike can use both of these books to introduce and reinforce safe behavior. Children can read the books for themselves and be reminded of what they have heard and read about safe behavior. This is another way that parent and teacher “safety rules” can be accepted as first-hand information by children. Both of us spend a portion of our time developing and promoting safety programs for elementary school children. We are concerned with teaching children appropriate behaviors on our playgrounds. These books will be helpful in our goal to provide meaningful yet easy to use material for our teachers and teacher aides in...