As the parent of three small boys I am alarmed that over 7000 children will die this year from accidents around the home. Some 50,000 kids are seriously injured around the home.
Accidental injury is the number one killer of children under the age of 14. With this in mind, I have put together an annotated list of some Web sites that deal with various safety issues dealing with kids. Many of these sites are designed for kids themselves to use and learn. Some are geared more for the parent or educator so they may use the resources for teaching.
Regardless, we must do more to bring that number of accidental deaths down to zero.
AUTO
Safety City
www.nhtsa.dot.gov/kids/
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintains this site that contains a number of helpful teaching tips for kids on bike and school bus safety, quizzes, car safety (online video clips), and safety art.
Traffic Safety Kids Page (NYS)
www.nysgtsc.state.ny.us/kids.htm
New Yorks Governors Traffic Safety Commission site that contains information for kids in the areas of bikes, car seats, railroad crossings, and activities like coloring, crossword puzzles, and games. It also has links to other child safety Web sites.
ANIMALS
Kids and Dogs: Safety First
www.canismajor.com/dog/kidsdog1.html
Here are informative articles for parents on preventing your child from being attacked or bitten by dogs.
BOATING
BoatSafeKids
www.boatsafe.com/kids/
More like a bulletin board where people can ask questions and get answers regarding boat safety. There is much more about boats including games, history, and information on how life jackets work.
Free Safety Book For Kids
www.clear-lake.com/uscg/color.htm
You can download a free coloring book on boat safety here compliments of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
CRIME
McGruff
www.ncpc.org/child.htm
There are a number of games that you can play online or print out and play with friends. Issues range from bike safety, guns, back to school, and what if scenarios.
ELECTRICITY
Sparky & Electra
www.electricleague.org/safetyk.htm
An online coloring book which you can download courtesy of the Kansas City Power & Light and the Electric League of Missouri and Kansas.
EYE SAFETY
Eye Safety Guide and Quiz
www.optima-hyper.com/frmquiz.htm
A series of quizzes for kids to take on preventing eye injury ranging from pencils to pebbles, along with some basic eye facts.
FARM SAFETY
Farm Safety Just For Kids
www.fs4jk.org/
Some 100,000 children under 20 years of age are injured on farms and over 100 are killed each year. Lots of curriculum helpers for educators regarding farm safety from livestock issues to tractor rollovers.
FIRE
Kids Fire Safety Tips
members.cruzio.com/~hoax1950/KidsFireSafetyTips.html
Lots of fire tips for the younger kids.
USFA Fire Page
www.usfa.fema.gov/kids/
Kids start over 100,000 fires each year. This site teaches about smoke detectors, how to escape a burning house, play games and more.
NYS Department of State Fire Safety
www.dos.state.ny.us/kidsroom/firesafe/firesafe.html
This site from the Department of State contains fire safety lessons, games, photos, descriptions of fire trucks, and you can send email questions.
FirePals
www.firepals.org/
FirePals contains safety songs you can listen to, or practice dialing 911, join the safety club, and take quizzes.
FIREWORKS
Kids Exchange
kidexchange.about.com/kids/kidexchange/library/blfworks.htm?once=true&
This site contains some common sense safety tips and links to other fireworks safety sites.
GARAGE DOOR SAFETY
Wayne-Dalton
www.safetykids.com/
This is a safety quiz from the Wayne-Dalton Corporation for kids to take to learn about garage door safety.
GENERAL
Kid Safety
www.cpsc.gov/kids/kidsafety/
Produced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the site contains several online games to teach safety issues around the home and outdoors.
Safety Tips for kids on the Internet
www.fbi.gov/kids/crimepre/internet/internet.htm
This FBI sites contains tips for parents and kids on how to use the Internet safely. It deals with child adduction, gangs, prevention, games and readings.
Kids Lightning Information Page
www.azstarnet.com/anubis/zaphome.htm
Lightening is striking somewhere in the world every 3 seconds. This site is produced by a family that was hit by lightning (and lived to tell about it), and make this Web site that explains lightning to kids. Has other links to lightening information as well.
The Kids' Safety Countdown: Age-Related Dangers
www.cigna.com/upbeat/kidssafe.html
CIGNA presents a list of hidden dangers based on a childs age up to 12. For example, until a child is one year old you should not place an infant to sleep on pillows, fluffy comforters or other soft items that can cause suffocation.
Kids Safety Topics
www.ou.edu/oupd/kidsafe/start.htm
The Police Notebook contains a Kids section in slide show format that deals with a range of issues like crime prevention, personal safety, Net safety, fire and first aid, and drugs and alcohol.
eSafety.com
www.esafety.com/esafety_cfmfiles/esafety.cfm/829
This impressive site is geared to the parent and has a wide ranging set of safety articles from school bus safety to germ warfare (health issues).
Pool Safety & Drowning
www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,3-8368,00.html
The FamilyEducation.com site is another excellent site that contains informative articles for parents about safety. This article from the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissiondeals with pool safety.
American Red Cross
www.redcrossomaha.org/wskids.htm
The Red Cross site contains a checklist for parents on water safety for kids.
FOOD AND KITCHEN SAFETY
Kids Safety
www.kraftfoods.com/food_safety/fs_kids.html
Some nice safety tips on feeding young kids, preparing lunch boxes, and a set of kitchen tips you can print out, from Kraft.
USDA
vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/educate.html
The USDA site contains quizzes, coloring books, games, and crossword puzzles and more all relating to food safety. Has links for educators too.
Government sites
www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/fsgkids.html
This site links government Web sites that deal with food safety on federal, state and local levels.
HEALTH
Kids Heath
kidshealth.org/kid/watch/
A series of articles from kidshealth.org on first aid, playing around the house, and safe outdoors tips.
TOY SAFETY
When Buying Toys...
www.parentsplace.com/health/safetyrecalls/gen/0,3375,9928,00.html
This is an online article from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on how to look for bad toys. Considering the death recently of two youngsters from those stupid Pokemon toys, everyone should read this. This site has other informative child related readings also.
Reach Don at drittner@aol.com or 251 River Street.