About every three years, my orthopedic surgeon husband pulls on-call duty on Christmas Day at the children’s hospital where he works. Well, a few weeks ago, his turn came around again; and while the rest of us munched on cinnamon buns in our PJs and tinkered with new gifts, he was busier than ever, thanks to one small, sleek item that just about every big kid had to have this year: the hoverboard. Of the six fracture consults he did that day, four were for hoverboard injuries. In total, he treated two elbow fractures and one wrist fracture (from falls), and one hand fracture (from getting a finger stuck in a wheel). Two of these incidents—an elbow fracture and the lacerated hand—required surgery.
This probably isn’t the first time you’ve read about the dangers of hoverboards, which have also been reported to catch on fire while charging or in use. So I’ll be brief with the advice I learned from the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website. Hoverboarders should: wear a helmet, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards; avoid riding near traffic; charge and store their boards in an open, dry area away from flammable items; and let the device cool for an hour after riding and before charging. They should also be at least 16, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (California has a state law requiring it).
But all the hoverboard brouhaha has made me think of a larger conundrum about limit setting when it comes to child’s play. Recently, there’s been a backlash on being too vigilant in this regard, and bestselling books (Wendy Mogul’s excellent Blessing of a Skinned Knee) and many lauded articles (see “The Overprotected Kid” in The Atlantic) have argued that our obsession with safety (and more largely, well-being) could be spawning a too-timid generation. And yet, the high-tech toys of today tend to carry more risks—physical and emotional—than the simpler playthings of the 70s and 80s. Vehicles and ride-ons were powered exclusively by our leg muscles, not motors and hydraulics. Video games featured pixelated animals, not amazingly life-like violence. If you want to allow your kids to try out the “hot” new toy and yet want to protect them from winding up in the E.R. (or worse) on Christmas Day, where—and how—do you draw the line?
That line will be different for everyone, and often depends on the age and maturity of your child. But here are four common-sense guidelines I’ll be trying to follow in 2016 and beyond, courtesy of the CPSC, the AAP, and Safe Kids Worldwide.
Don’t ignore recommended age and size ranges. On this note, I am hugely guilty. I’ve bought countless two-year-olds Melissa and Doug puzzles meant for ages 3 and up, and haven’t thought much about allowing my 70-pound second grader to bounce around on a pogo stick intended for children 60 pounds or lighter. The fact is, age and size recommendations aren’t determined on corporate whimsy; they are regulated by the CPSC, which is an independent federal agency tasked with protecting the public against injury and death associated with toys and other products. If there are no age requirements listed, do some research online and speak with a trustworthy local toy dealer about recommendations.
Buy from known and trusted retailers. All toys sold to kids ages 12 and under in the U.S. are subject to CPSC regulation—in theory. Kiosks, pop-up shops and some shady websites often sell illegally imported toys that aren’t subject to federal safety standards, and should be avoided.
Read—for real—the instructions. We have become—and our kids were born—a point-and-click generation, and we’ll often try things out before sitting down to read the fine print. But instructions are included in the box—or, hopefully, in an easily accessible online site—for a reason. We should all be taking a few minutes (or more) to sit down with our kids and go over safety and usage instructions for new playthings, and enforce non-negotiable rules (and consequences) about following them. When you catch a child without the requisite helmet, or charging a gadget incorrectly, or mouthing something potentially toxic, that might mean the toy goes away for a time period.
Download a toy recall app. It’s hard enough to check your kid’s school’s online calendar; odds are low that you’ll be surfing toward the CPSC website very often. But if you download the Recalls Pro app on your phone, you can create a watch list of toys you own or are thinking of purchasing.
Photo credit: Urban Wheel via Photo Pin, cc
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