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Show wm ,tnic' by a car! Johnny had been overprotected. As soon as your child can understand you, begin augmenting his pro- - You Can Prevent 2. Your Child Accidents tectionwith Parents need to understand the web of circumstances that ' draws a youngster toward injury . By DR. JOEL J. ALPERT as told to Albert I. Mayer I T was moving day, and Mrs. Wilson was exhausted. cumstances which progressively drew him toward injury." Ninety percent of the accidents, the team reported, were theoretically preventable. Many of the children were acutely hungry at the time of injury. More than half the accidents occurred between 3 pjn. and 6 p.m., the "tired" time of the day when mothers are busiest. Parents are very much involved in their children's accidents. Many lack understanding of what to expect at particular stages of their children's development For example, a young mother had put her sons Bobby, 8, and Jimmy, "1," in the bathtub. The doorbell rang. When the mother re-- She had been up the greater part of the night with her daughter Sharon, who had a bad cough, and now the moving men had arrived. She watched as they roughly hauled her piano down the stairs. Anxious- - ' ly, she followed them out to the moving van. son, chose Billy, her that moment to climb up on the kitchen table and swallow a dozen iron tablets from a bottle that had been standing there for weeks. And "chose" is the right word. Children's accidents don't "just happen." Rather, they are the result of a chain of events fatigue, hunger, family illness that precipitates the injury. In Billy Wilson's case, his mother, tired out and nnder stress, had not given the boy his usual nap and luncheon snack. Here were the necessary ingredients to get him ' into trouble. At CWkWn's Hospital Medi-e' turned five minutes later, Bobby was Center in Boston, a multidlsci-plin- e out of the tub. Jimmy was still in it team (made Up of pediatriscalded and writhing in pain. badly social l workers, nursery-schoocians, had turned on the hot water! Bobby and research assistants, teachers, to young children are. Warnings concluded consultants) because the toddlers are un..fruitless a year's extensive study of W6 chil to able understand them. And it's a dren from one to six years of age to mistake think they will learn from who were admitted to the hospital experience. for accidental injury. These children At the same time don't overpro-teand their families were studied your youngster to the extent in their homes and in the he is unaware of dangers. that "hospital by the Accident Study Team. Johnny Andrews was amply "Each child," wrote Dr. Roger J. from automobiles while "protected" Meyer, director of the team, "apon an army base where, a he lived web in an enclosing peared caught speed limit was strictly enof developmental and "personal dr. forced and vehicles always stopped for children. When Johnny's family It Ckta OM HmMi DtvWton moved to the city, he still thought CMUrw'l NMfital Mt to bi imcJm at he could roam the streets until he -- . al social-scien- ce ct accident-preventio- ed- n ucation. And educate yourself, too! Make 7gurself aware of ; potential dangers. As you work in the house or the yard, be consciousjtf the little things that you could do to prevent serious trouble. Make an effort to anticipate what your child will be able to do next Discuss his development with your doctor: For example, consider that tricycle he rides safely in the back yard and now wants to take over to Grandmother's for the day. Does he know how fast it will go downhill on Grandmother's steep street ? Does Grandmother know how much he knows? Anticipate what lies ahead. Above all, be constantly aware of the nature of accidents. Realize that while they may not be caused by any one factor, two or three of these factors together increase the chances of their occurring. Take extra precautions when you are under stress and things are going wrong. At the) turn of the century, accidents were the fifth greatest cause of death among children. Today they are the first on the list and kill more children than the next four causes combined cancer, congenital malformations, pneumonia, and heart disease. With all the advances in medical science, we still can't simply reach for a syringe and immunize against accidents. But you' may do the equivalent simply by knowing: why accidents oc' cur and by taking common-sens- e While team was the precautions. studying the 186 children admitted to our hospital for accident injuries, "a comparative study was made of 103 Boston preschool children who had not been hospitalised for accidents. The families of the. two groups were similar in respect to family income, parental occupation, race, religion, neighborhood, and play facilities. The parents of the 103, however, were far more aware of why accidents occurred and did their best to take proper precautions. As time went on, out of the 103 children in . the .group, only one was hospitalized for accidental injury. He broke his leg. And in his case, a social worker had predicted the injury before it took place When did it happen? On moving day. Seven-year-o- ld lfr-mil- i . e The Ckildren'e Hoepital in Boston has published an Accident Handbook based on its accident study. For a copy, send 154 (for handling) to Department of Health Education, Children's Hoepital Medical Center, Boston, Mast. 02115. - o & 0 a- Rebel against the tyranny of belts, pins, pads. Vote for freedom. Vote for internal sanitary protection. Vote for Tampax tampons. With Tampax tampons, nothing can show, no one can know. You wear what you wish, do " what you like. You're poised, assured, confident, comfortable. ' So don't wait for the glorious fourth to know the glorious benefits of Tampax menstrual tampons. Declare your own independence day. Now. Drwfrlurnc Otom TAMPAX. ' Internal Sanitary Protection IllUmtATKXS IT MASK OtUY ftmily Weekly, iierek to, l$$t , mm om.t ir twu mooanxune, mmu, un. |