     |
OUR VIOLENT AND DANGEROUS WORLD!CONTROLLING THE FORCES AROUND OUR KIDS!
GRASPING REALITY!A new era in child safety!What is really important?
Experts tell us how to be safe but we tend to resist authority!
I felt that!Pain is a great teacher!It is in our nature to resist authority, and safety represents authority. Safety rules are sometimes very hard to follow. Most of us have used the chair instead of the step ladder. Or we decided to take some other short cut which resulted in an “immediate regret” along with “I will never do that again”. So even if we know the rule, we have some “safety demons” whispering in our ear – “You can do this – it will be much faster than if you walk out into the garage and get the correct tool.” We will teach you to deal with those enticing voices that lead us to pain and injury.
Immediate regrets can be learning experiences!Ignorance affects all of us. Sometimes we simply don’t know what we are doing is unsafe. Sometimes accidents happen because of unusual circumstances – perhaps unavoidable. But most of the time the accidents are the result "safety ignorance". Schools, fire departments, boy and girl scouts, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, plus labels, posters, signs, and etc. attempt teach us about some really important safety things. Safety training is only useful when you can apply and make it work. Much of what we teach you centers around keeping safety on the "edge" of your every thought. You have to recognize a risk and respond according. A great link with tons of good information!U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commision
The injury becomes the center of the universe!Safety is a world of contrasts. Safety is lost in our busy lives. Then a child gets hurt. Then everyone is an expert, a "Monday morning quarterback", except that we aren't discussing a game, we are discussing an injury to a child.The injury becomes the "center of the universe" for that child and their family. The irony of safety is it gets little “press or attention” before the accident, yet what is at stake is “life and death” or perhaps “3rd degree burns”. Safety should be near the top of our priorities, but man’s attitudes towards safety are often such that he believes he doesn't need to follow the "rule" or "the safe way". We have all done this to some extent, and sometimes we get hurt, when we think we "know better" or we think we can "cut the corner" just one time. Our "egos" and or our "laziness" can kill us and they can kill our children.
Desire to have a thrill!In our culture, people go looking for trouble. The desire to have a thrill can overcome reason. Perhaps people are bored with life, so they seek out things like jumping out of airplanes, jumping off of bridges, riding motorcycles, or riding skate boards. These events are on our media screen at home and our children see them. If we as adults pursue these activities with careful attention to learning how to do it safety, then it is a choice we make to perhaps enjoy living by this experience. But the perception by our children is; "doing dangerous things is OK and it looks like fun". No matter how you look at it, this distorts reality for a child. They just saw a guy ride 30 feet in the air on his bike on TV and he didn't get hurt. They ride up the driveway on their bike at 4 MPH and fall. They break their arm and sustain a minor concussion! Our children watch these "risk takers" on TV and in the movies and their perception of the physical world as it relates to danger, is altered. With the magic of special effects, grasping a realistic understanding of the natural forces of physics that affect our well being and safety are even more dramatically changed.
Watch out in the kitchen!Kids should never view the stove from here!Just how fragile are our bodies?Most of what the children see growing up on the TV and in the movies is examples of dangerous behavior. Cartoons, movies, TV, and even books create a fantasy world that distorts reality.We have all seen the “Road Runner” cartoons. The coyote character is invariably smashed, crushed, or is run over by a truck. After the accident, he gets up and is “as good as new” after a couple of seconds. In sports, we see young athletes do amazing things. We see an unrealistic picture of human fragility and we develop a distorted view of what our bodies can endure. This affects adults and well as children. In general, people do not understand the consequences of many kinds of accidents. Children need skills in decision making!The human body is able to withstand a great deal of abuse without serious injury. However, after we watch thousands of movies and TV programs our perception of what we can do without injury is distorted by what we witness in the “pretend world of movies and TV” and the world of “sports”. We need to be aware of we can do and what we can't do. If we expose ourselves to any risk, then we should be prepared to accept the consequences. Our children need to have skills in decision making that affect their own well being. They need to know when and how to say "No!", and make the correct decision to keep from getting hurt.
What really happens when you bump your head?Our children watch these "risk takers" on TV and in the movies and their perception of the physical world as it relates to danger, is altered. With the magic of special effects, it is even more difficult to grasp a realistic understanding of the natural forces of physics that affect our well being and safety. We use a method we call, "Safety Physics" that will help to bring a better understanding of the world of motion and mass to the children. We show them how movement that stops abruptly creates an injury. Our CD, "Being a Safe Kid", teaches the kids about what really happens when you bump your head. The wonderful part of this training is the visuals do two things. The child will remember the visual image, a memory tool, plus it provides incentive or motivation to avoid this type of injury. Even young children can comprehend "safety physics" at least on a basic level. When they step on a bug, they know; "That is a bad thing for the bug". The visual images shows the results of certain kinds of potential injuries.
Mr. Mel-On-Head shows the kids what a piano bench can do to you!Kids can understand this demo! This simple graph shows the relationship between safety and danger over time. Risk varies moment to moment. Our "safety functionality" is a measure of all the factors affecting safety as we go about our daily activities. Most of the time, we vary our safety effort without realizing it. If we draw hot water in the bath tub, we are careful before we step into the water to make sure it is not too hot. The value of the graph is primarily that we must adjust our level of safety as we change our activities. Walking down the stairs? It is time to raise our safety level. SAFETY TIME LINEA picture is worth a thousand words.The level of danger changes moment to moment. If we understand this concept, then we know to adjust of level of awareness based on the activity.
|
