Summer safety -- myth vs. reality

With summer approaching and the end of the school year nigh, we must be vigilant regarding the safety of our children. Parents, rightfully, are concerned for the safety of their children. A popular parenting website offers this featured article: Gun Safety - Do You Ask About Weapons Before a Playdate? Skittish parents are warned that forty percent of homes with kids also have guns and that “eight kids die every day from guns” (emphasis in original).

Humans tend to be very poor processors of risk information, and that tendency is greatly exacerbated by downright bad information. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) statistics for 2004 (last full year available) states that for children 5-14, a total of 41 were killed by accidental firearm discharges. (Unless you allow your child to play hopscotch on the drug war battlefields, your chief concern should be accidental death by firearm). While 41 deaths are tragic, that is a far cry from the 2,922 deaths asserted in the article (the yearly total of 8 per day).

So what should you, as a caring and responsible parent, be concerned about? While guns are popularly vilified, they are way down on the list. According to CDC statistics, here’s what you should be asking your playdate’s adult family (mom, dad, steps, uncles, aunts, etc.):

1. Do you have a bad driving record? Any DUI convictions? In 2004, 1,453 children aged 5-14 were killed in transportation-related accidents (overwhelmingly in automobiles). Odds – 64.3%
2. Do you have a pool, or will you be taking my child to the beach? Over 250 children died by drowning in the same period. Odds – 11.3%
3. Is your home protected by fire and smoke alarms? How about a sprinkler system? More than 180 kids died from smoke, fire, or flames. Odds – 8.0%
4. Are all of your household poisons (cleaning solutions, etc.) safely locked up? Nearly 60 kids died from poisoning in 2004. Odds – 2.6%
5. Finally we get to the firearms question – with 41 accidental deaths. Odds – 1.8%

While it may be fashionable and politically correct to vilify firearms, a truly responsible parent will pay attention to the real probabilities. Maybe it’s time for a Brady Campaign to Prevent Traffic Violence. It would be much more effective in actually savings kids’ lives.