Parents Daily News Roundup

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

Oregon Teachers Fail Active Shooter Drill As Masked Men Shoot Blanks At Surprised Faculty
Cammie DeCastro, principal of the Pine Eagle Charter School in Halfway, Ore., admits that the plan she had to protect her school from an armed gunman is in tatters after two masked men stormed in and appeared to open fire on a meeting room full of teachers last Friday, The Oregonian reports. (via Huffington Post)

Shedding Light On the Long Shadow of Childhood Adversity
Childhood adversity can lead to chronic physical and mental disability in adult life and have an effect on the next generation, underscoring the importance of research, practice and policy in addressing this issue, according to a Viewpoint in the May 1 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on child health. (via Science Daily)

Food, skin allergies increasing in children
Parents are reporting more skin and food allergies in their children, a big government survey found. (via Fox News)

Traffic noise linked with kids’ hyperactivity
Children who live near a noisy road may be at an increased risk of hyperactivity, according to a new study from Germany. (via Fox News)

Amusement rides linked to 4,000 injuries in children each year
Nervous parents may fret about dangerous-looking roller coasters with precipitous drops, or rusty Ferris wheels in traveling fairs, but it turns out that for young children, coin-operated rides in malls and restaurants may be more of a cause for concern than expected, according to a new study. (via Fox News)

Kiera Wilmot, 16, Arrested And Expelled For Explosive ‘Science Experiment’
Wilmot, a Bartow High School student, was arrested at her school last week for allegedly detonating a water bottle filled with an explosive concoction of common household chemicals. (via Huffington Post)

Parents Daily News Roundup

Monday, November 26th, 2012

Disabled Parents Often Lose Custody Of Children, Report Finds
A new study estimates that there is an 80% child removal rate for the 6.1 million parents with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities in the U.S. (via Huffington Post)

Fetal Alcohol Exposure Affects Brain Structure in Children
Children exposed to alcohol during fetal development exhibit changes in brain structure and metabolism that are visible using various imaging techniques, according to a new study. (via ScienceDaily)

Bounce House-Related Injuries on the Rise in U.S
The number of U.S. children hurt while using inflatable bouncers, such as bounce houses and moonwalks, is 15 times higher than in 1995, according to a new study. (via Reuters)

School Districts Brace for Cuts as Fiscal Crisis Looms
The automatic budget cuts and tax increases that will kick in next year could spawn another round of belt-tightening at public schools already battered by the recession and its aftermath. (via New York Times)

Important Safety Lessons From “Safe Kids Day”

Monday, September 24th, 2012

This post is written by Dana Points, editor in chief of Parents. 

Q: Who is responsible for our kids’ safety?
A: We all are!

A recent trip to “Safe Kids Day” in Washington, D.C., opened my eyes to how persistent some children’s safety problems are. As the editor in chief of Parents and a board member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit devoted to preventing unintentional injury, I thought I knew a thing or three about children’s safety, but I learned a few new things visiting the exhibits and talking to the educators at this Capitol-Hill event designed to raise awareness among members of Congress and their staff:

1. More child pedestrians are injured in September than in any other month–and injuries to older kids are on the rise, probably because they are distracted by their mobile devices.

2. If your smoke alarm is wired into your electrical system or home alarm system, you may not be fretting about changing the batteries, but you should replace the device every 10 years (which means our family is overdue!)

3. Despite warnings to parents, kids continue to swallow button batteries, which can cause devastating internal injury. A bill introduced earlier this summer would call on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to make battery compartments more child-resistant, among other things.

Fortunately, we have some friends watching out for us in D.C.–but they can’t work magic overnight. Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky stopped by Safe Kids Day to check out the safe sleep display. An infant and toddler safety act she introduced back in 2001 (!) was part of an effort that resulted in the ban on drop-side cribs that took effect last year. And Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a mother of two young boys, has her own initiatives under way, with a focus on safe food, safe water, and safe toys. “I look at issues in a children-first way,” she says. But she can’t be the only one and that’s where we come in. “Women need to get off the sidelines and understand their voice needs to be heard,” Gillibrand told me. After a half-hour of wide-ranging discussion of children’s safety with Safe Kids President and CEO Kate Carr and me, her parting words were a warning: “If most women realized their legislators could care less about the issues we have discussed today they’d be amazed.” That’s why it’s up to all of us to take action on a personal level.

For more on what you can do at home and in your community to ensure a safer world for our kids, visit Safe Kids Worldwide.

Parents Daily News Roundup

Friday, September 21st, 2012

IUDs, Implants Best for Birth Control, Docs Say
New guidelines from the nation’s leading group of obstetricians and gynecologists advice that all women, including teenagers, should look to IUDs and implants first. (via Today)

More Kids Get Nonmedical Exemptions From Vaccines
In 2011, just over 2 percent of school children were exempt from getting their vaccines for nonmedical reasons, up from about 1 percent in 2006, a new report finds. (via My Health News Daily)

Race Doesn’t Affect Injury Outcomes in Kids
White, black and Hispanic children who got seriously injured were equally likely to survive their hospital stay in a new study – despite past evidence of racial disparities. (via Fox News)

Second-hand Smoke Tied to Memory Problems
Smokers and people who regularly breath others’ cigarette fumes are worse at remembering things on their to-do lists than people with no tobacco exposure, a small study says. (via Reuters)

Wal-Mart, Humana to Offer Healthy Food Discount
Health care giant Humana, Inc. is partnering with Wal-Mart to give shoppers deals on fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy and other health products starting next month. (via ABC News)

Actress Debra Messing on Protecting Kids

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

9.2 million unwanted injuries happen to kids each year, so commit a minute to keeping your children safe this holiday season.  Prevent unwanted injuries with simple tasks such as making sure  batteries are stored in the smoke detector, night lights are in the hallway, and toys are stored away safely.

Actress Debra Messing (“Will & Grace”) has partnered with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for their “Commit a Minute to Safety” campaign to increase safety awareness for families during the holiday season and year round. The actress shared, “It’s really amazing how just a few simple actions can make a big difference in helping to protect your home and family, especially at such a magical time of year when you want the holidays to be joyful.” 

Watch Debra Messing’s public service announcement about keeping kids safe and visit SafetyatHome.com to learn the 100 things that can make your home safer.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuUKthFAgqA

Check out other resources from Parents.com to keep a healthy and safe household:

• Room-by-Room Guide to Germ-Free Living
• Keep an Environmentally Safe Home
• More Information on Keeping a Healthy Household

Infant Deaths, Injuries Associated with Nursery Products up Sharply in 2009

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Faulty infant carriers, cribs, high chairs and other nursery products caused a 21% spike in injuries last year, Consumer Ally reported today on WalletPop.com.

Regulators estimated there were 77,300 emergency-room visits related to products aimed at children younger than 5 years old, compared with 63,700 in 2008, the CPSC said in a recent study.

“The numbers in nearly all these categories are far too high,” said CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson. “It speaks to why we have new rules in place for two juvenile products and why we are pushing so hard to have new standards for cribs in place by the end of this year.”

Infant carriers, car seat carriers, cribs and mattresses, strollers, carriages and high chairs are associated with nearly three quarters of the injuries, with falls the leading cause. Keep up with the very latest on recalls with our helpful Recall Finder and for more details on this story, see Mitch Lipka’s full Consumer Ally report.

Have you had the upsetting and unfortunate experience of dealing with a recalled product for your little one?