As a parent, you know that one of the best things about the holidays is seeing your kids happy. Unfortunately, whether you have young children or teens, some of the things that your kids most enjoy during the holiday season could also put them at risk.
While you want to be festive and merry, you also don't want your children getting hurt. As a result, there are a few key steps to take to prevent holiday accidents to keep kids of all ages safe.
For young children, the big safety concern is toys. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates 254,200 children got hurt and had to go to U.S. hospitals in 2015 because of toy defects. You do not want your child to be one of the kids hurt or even killed by toys as a result of presents your child receives over the holiday season.
As you buy toys for your children, make sure to select age-appropriate products for them to avoid choking hazards and other related issues. You should also check any products that you buy, or that your kids receive from other family members, in order to make certain that the product has not been recalled. The Consumer Product Safety Commission makes it possible to search for recalls so you can see if anything purchased for your child is problematic.
For parents of older kids, you probably aren't giving toys, but this does not mean new products cannot be risky. Lots of teens get technology for Christmas and, as illustrated by phones that randomly started on fire this year, tech products and other gifts given to teenagers can malfunction.
Teens also face auto accident risks over the holidays. Whether they are in their own car or are in a friend's car enjoying the holiday break, young people could become casualties of the elevated number of auto accidents that U.S.A. Today reports happen each holiday period.
Because the holidays involve lots of travel time for many families, there are significantly more cars on the road during this time than at other times of the year. In fact, around 95 million people are estimated to travel on U.S roads around the holiday season. Teens may be unused to coping with this volume of traffic and may make dangerous decisions that lead to crashes. Teens attending holiday parties could also make the mistake of drinking and driving.
Parents need to make sure their children have ground rules for driving. Limiting the number of friends a teen can have in the car at the same time is one of the keys to avoiding teen accidents. Parents should identify the biggest sources of car accident risks for their teens over the holiday break and should make certain young people know about the dangers so a disaster does not happen over the holidays.