SOME years ago, a nursery in Britain was sent a memo to chop down a tree in its backyard because it was considered “dangerous”. Children might climb it and injure themselves if they fell, the local authorities reasoned.
It struck a raw nerve in parents, caregivers and childcare experts, many of whom felt that today’s children are increasingly deprived of enjoying the carefree experiences of the past.
Parents today fear so much that we are developing what New Zealanders term “cotton wool kids”, a generation of mollycoddled children. In Taiwan, these children are known as “strawberries” – seemingly tough on the surface but soft on the inside.
In his book No Fear: Growing Up In A Risk-Averse Society, London-based early childhood expert and author Tim Gill warns of over-protecting children. Eventually, they do not develop a natural sense of danger because they know “someone” (parent, caregiver, the authorities or Power Rangers!) is always around the corner to save them.
Gill asserts that removing potential dangers actually deprives children of the ability to assess and respond accordingly to risks. He cites playground rubber padding, a mandatory feature in most developed nations, as an example – it may be less safe than the hard surfaces of yore.
Yet, the increasing number of child injuries, even deaths, in recent years is of the utmost concern. According to World Health Organisation’s 2006 Mortality Fact Sheets, child injuries in Malaysia make up the largest percentage of death causes (8%) in children below five.
WHO’s Global Burden of Disease 2004 Update (published 2008) also shows drowning to be the No.14 cause of death for children below four, but jumps to No.4 in children aged five to 14, while road accidents go from being No.14 in children below four to the second cause of deaths in children aged five to 14.
Surely, these numbers are anything but an indication of over-protection.
Real dangers
Strangled by a curtain tie-back, drowning in the home koi pond, choking on a fish ball that fell on the ground during Chinese New Year reunion dinner, crushed to death by a falling television ... these seemingly freak accidents are real incidents that have been reported in recent years.
“Children need the freedom to explore their surroundings, but that doesn’t mean parents can totally let go,” says Bryan Lin, general manager of Columbia Asia Hospital in Bukit Rimau, Shah Alam, Selangor, and a father of three.
“Even in the past when we had the freedom to do whatever we wanted, like climb trees or play in drains, our parents were watching, without us realising it. Before we climbed so high up that we couldn’t get down or stepped on a weak branch, our parents would have warned us of what to expect,” he says.
Amimah Abdullah, a teacher in Terengganu with four children, agrees that many serious injuries can be prevented if parents are a little more attentive.
“Some years ago, my eldest son Faiz was giving his little brother a piggy-back around the living room, while the two girls chased after them. Faiz lost his balance and fell on his sisters.
My daughter Faizah hit her head on a door ledge and blood started pouring down her neck,” she recalls.
Panic-stricken, they rushed her to the hospital. Fortunately, it was only a bad gash.
“The children were so traumatised that they became more cautious when playing. But I should have stopped them before they got too boisterous,” says Amimah, 46.
Too busy, too tired, too distracted
Not all accidents result from excessive play. Consider the increasing cases of fatal motor accidents where small children are knocked down by their school vehicles, neighbours or worse, their own parents. “Studies have shown that most accidents happen during school holidays and when parents or caregivers are in a hurry,” explains consultant paediatrician Dr Cheah Cheong Wooi.
The truth is that parents today are too busy, too tired and too distracted to recognise potential dangers the way parents in the past did.
Technology also plays a part: Parents these days might be too engrossed in their high-tech electronic devices.
“It’s the speed of modern living,” says marketing consultant Monisha Cynthia Nair, mother to a pair of two-year-old twins. “Everybody wants to keep up with everyone else, so we sometimes overlook the obvious dangers to our children’s surroundings.”
Everyday things such as mobile phones or iron wires left dangling, stools near stoves where curious toddlers can climb up to reach a pot of boiling water, sockets left exposed and more are potential dangers in homes with small children.
Preventing child injuries
According to a 2008 study titled “Child Mortality & Injury In Asia” that was conducted by Unicef’s Innocenti Research Centre, an Italian-based knowledge and analysis outfit, the interaction between a child and a pond, a child and a car, and a child and an animal, is as predictable and preventable as a child with a virus or with bacteria.
This means most child injuries can be prevented, in the same way as serious diseases with vaccinations, improved hygiene and education.
“In children below five, parents bear the crux of this responsibility,” says Lin, citing common hospital cases such as choking, fractures or having foreign objects inserted into the ears or nose.
For older children, the key factor to safety is through education. This includes teaching them the proper use of electronic and electrical items (yes, children today are mostly tech-savvy), keeping stairs, bathrooms and floors clutter-free to avoid slips and falls, and knowing how to play safe.
Most importantly, parents need to know what to do in the event of accidents. “It helps to learn basic first aid so that emergency measures can be taken while waiting for medical assistance,” advises Dr Cheah.
> This is the first of four fortnightly articles as part of a nationwide child safety campaign, ‘Smart Parents, Safe Kids’, organised by parenting2u and Columbia Asia Hospitals from this month to July. The campaign kicks off this Sunday at the hospital’s centre in Bukit Rimau, Shah Alam, Selangor. For details and schedule of free public forums, go to www.parenting2u.com.
The six senses
USE your senses to keep your children safe! Here’s how:
> Sight: Does something look like a potential danger? Remove or exchange it with a safer alternative.
> Smell: Teach your children to recognise the smell of smoke or leaking gas.
> Touch: Wet and oily floors invite falls. All animals should be handled carefully to avoid bites or stings.
> Hearing: Hear abnormal sounds or silence when your children are at play? They could be doing something they shouldn’t – go check on them!
> Taste: If something tastes bad, it probably is not meant to be eaten.
> Gut feel: This sixth sense warns us that something could be potentially dangerous for our children, so listen to it!
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