September 15, 2008
Dear DES Families,
One of our priorities this year is to help foster being better citizens and contributing members to our community. Keeping Detroit a safe place is very important.
One way we can do our part in keeping our school, work, and home save is to become informed. As part of our Here We Grow Character Education Program, each six weeks we will send home a Safety sheet for you to share as a family. These face sheets will cover current safety topics and are a good starting point for family discussions. Becoming aware of safe practices will help us increase safety!
This is a great part of our character study and one step on the road to success to make our community a safer and better place. We ask that you take this step with us in educating our children on safe practices.
Enjoy the safety brief and family packs. You will be receiving another one during the 2nd six weeks.
This year is off to a great and safe start on the road to success!
In regards of our children,
Morris Lyon Chris Bradshaw
Superintendent/Elementary Principal Assistant Principal
Global
Children’s Fund
Becoming Safety Aware
Please enjoy this parent safety brochure, compliments of your child’s school or child care facility. Keep in mind though, this is but one small part of child safety, not intended to be complete safety education. Please visit us online at www.keepyourchildsafe.org for a variety of free book downloads covering all aspects of child safety
SAFETY BRIEF….SAFETY BRIEF….SAFETY BRIEF….Safety Brief…
What are the odds?
So what are the realistic odds of your child being injured or killed during their childhood? Well, just take a look. You may be surprised at just how often it actually happens. Accidental childhood deaths rarely make the news, but
outnumber kidnapping victims by more than 100 to 1. Serious injuries are usually not noticed by many, while deaths make the headlines and catch the attention of parents. But don’t forget that some of these injuries permanently disable the child. Here are some alarming facts, to help you realize just how important safety measures are:
· Accidental injury is the leading cause of death in children in the United States.
· every year, there are around 380,000 residential structure fires in the United States.
· every year, about 800,000 children are reported missing.
· Approximately 5,000 children are injured each year from fireworks.
· each year, approximately 15 children die, and another 200,000 children visit hospital emergency rooms due to playground injuries.
· Around 100 children each year are abducted and killed at the hands of a stranger.
· Accidental injuries cost the public about 480 Billion dollars per year on hospital and other related expenses.
· every year, the poison control center receives about 1.1 million reports of unintentional poisoning for children 5 and under.
· There are approximately 33,000 sledding related injuries that require emergency room visits each year.
· Each year, approximately 50,000 children under 16 are seriously injured in skiing accidents
· Around 150,000 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for toy related injuries
· Nearly 2000 children die each year in home-related accidents
· Around 3.4 million emergency room visits due to home accidents or injuries each year
· Each year, approximately 60 children are killed in accidental firearm deaths, and several hundred more injured.
· Around 1800 children die each year in auto accidents
· Around 700 youngsters are struck and killed by a car in pedestrian accidents
· Another 40,000 are treated each year in emergency rooms for pedestrian-car accidents
· Drowning claims the lives of as many as 1,000 children per year, and another 4,000-5,000 drown and survive, but most often times suffering permanent damage.
· Annually, 1 in 14 students suffer medically treated injuries while at school.
· Each year, around 3.4 million visits by kids 14 and under to the emergency room are due to preventable injuries in the home.
· Around 2000 children 14 and under die each year from preventable home accidents. Around 80% of these are 4 and under.
· Around a dozen children each year die due to toy related injuries, and another 150,000 are treated in hospital emergency rooms.
· Around 1,000 kids choke to death each year.
· Most experts estimate that as many as 60-95 percent of these deaths could have and should have been prevented, with information and simple precautions that are available today.
Safety is an investment, not a chore
Consider the previous numbers to yourself and then consider the payoffs of safety training and prevention. Safety training makes up for itself in both time and money with the prevention of just one of those hazards, which is likely to befall your family at some point during your kids lives. Not to mention the added benefit of protecting your child from the most serious and deadly of those potential outcomes. Safety training with your children is not a chore; it is an investment, and one which will pay off tenfold. You can spend a little bit of time training your kids in safety, and a little bit of money to upgrade your child’s environment. Or, if you choose, you can spend that time and money down the road, sitting in an emergency room and paying ambulance and doctors bills. The choice is yours.
The real safety danger
Many parents spend lots of time and energy worrying about the chance that their child may be abducted and killed. While this is a threat, there is little outcry for the fact that children killed by other means outnumber that abducted child about 150 to 1. These other deaths are just as preventable, if not more preventable, as that child murder.
Partners in Safety
There is no way we expect parents to be able to keep up on every single safety issue. We have spent 11 years and tens of thousands of hours in research in order to come up with programs that are effective in teaching kids preventive measures. We simply need you to be our partners in child safety.
Programs for the busiest parents
We realize how busy and hectic family life can be these days, which is why we have created programs that anyone can use. Our children’s books for child safety and sexual abuse prevention, teach kids the important information they need to know, in as little as 20 minutes a month. Our free online book of the month program lets you get started today, reading your kids these important safety books from the comfort of your home computer. It is simply the easiest, and most effective way to safety train your kids, without having to readjust your life. We also have an online safety forum to answer all your questions and concerns, and help you along the way. Make us a small part of your household routine. Visit us online, in partnership with your child’s school, so that your child does not end up number 5,867 somewhere in that tragic mix.