Safety Practices and Policies for Preschoolers

Safety Practices and Policies 

As an early childhood educator for over fifteen years, I have seen how curious, active, and eager children are to explore their environments. As the caregiver of these young explores I must be aware of potential dangers that could be harmful, and threaten their safety. I must first be aware of my own surroundings and then look at the environment as if I was a young child, to see any possible safety issues, like broken toys, small choking hazards, and the possibility of falling.  In this blog, I am going to explore many different safety issues that can cause harm to our young preschool aged children.

                     Allergies and Allergic Reactions

My first safety issues that can cause harm to not only preschool age children but everyone are allergies. I’m not talking just about those pesky seasonal allergies that plague many of us each and every year, but also the animal, medicine and food allergies. Over the years I have noticed a spike in parents informing us about the different allergies that their children have, like peanut and other nut products, milk, gluten, soy, melon, seafood, the pesticides that farmers use to protect their crops, and even medicine. My best friend’s daughter is allergic to practically everything (jokingly saying). She is allergic to all nut products, melons, shellfish, and skin on apples, cat, evergreen trees, pollen, and many other seasonal type things. When my friend realized her older son was allergic to peanut butter he was about Two years old, at daycare he got a hold of another child’s lunch and began to become red around his mouth, she immediately called the doctor to get an appointment for him to be looked at because she knew personally how dangerous food allergies can be. This was over ten years ago and her doctor told her that they don’t test children that young for allergies, but knowing her medical history they tested him, and told her to bring her daughter back when she is about the same age, or eating table food and they would test her. Food and medicine allergies are something that should not be taken lightly, due to the harmful outcomes that could possibly happen. My friend did the right thing, and immediately called the doctor when she noticed that her children were showing signs of an allergic reaction. At my Child Care facility we have to keep a record of what we serve, and any medicine that we give our students for about five weeks. So as a parent and caregiver of my own family member I do the same, because I never know if the doctor might ask what has change in their diet or environment.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Since the unforeseeable motor vehicle accident which caused the death of Paul Walker (actor best known for Fast and the Furious) and his race car driver friend, I have been more aware of how many accidents that I hear about on the news that children are involved in. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of childhood injuries, due to not properly installed car seats, or the wrong car seat for the child’s age and weight. I know as a driver that there are many different reasons that cause motor vehicle accidents that are out of our control, but what we can control is the safety of our passengers and ourselves. With laws always changing, I am constantly researching the car seat law for my state to make sure that all of my children in my care are in the proper car seat and when they no longer need to be it one. The state of Maryland the law is any child under the age of 8 and shorter than 4’9 must use the age appropriate child restraint.

Playground Safety

As an educator and aunt to young children the safety issue that is most dear to my heart is Playground Safety.  As I read in Safety, Nutrition, and Health in Early Education by Cathie Robertson, playgrounds are one of the leading causes for childhood injuries, due to the fact of lack of supervision, misuse of equipment, and age appropriateness of the equipment. The playground safety policy that my staff and I follow at my child care center is that we only use the playground designed for the age group we are caring for and we are always looking around and knowing where our children are at all times. We are always walking around, never sitting, playing with the children to long. I even do this when I am not working and taking my nieces and nephews to the playground, I am always watching my own family members as well as the others. Sometimes I think that the parents a crept out by me watching and making sure that the children are safe until I tell them I am a teacher then they understand. For an example I was at my friends daughter’s birthday party at a moon bounce place when I felt I was correcting the children on how to properly use the moon bounce structures then the staff there was, a child was climbing the side of the six plus foot tall slide and could have fallen and really hurt himself until I said, “I don’t think you should being doing that” and the child stopped. Let’s all work on dropping playground injuries in children by properly supervising these children in our care.  

                            Fire Safety

Another cause in childhood injury that is out of our control, but could be prevented is fire, weather related, and other disasters. When I was in school I remember how important it was that we learned about what to do in case of a fire, and not to be afraid of the strange man or women wearing a mask. I also remember all of the fire drills we had to do and the place you had to go (depending on where your classroom). The classrooms in the front of the school had to go to the other side of the parking lot furthest from the school. Today by the COMAR regulations set by my state my child care center must conduct fire drills once a month, and disaster drills twice a year. To teach them the difference in the places we go we use an air horn for the disaster drill. The more times one does these types of drill, it will become second nature and will go where they needed to go to be safe.

Water Safety

Water Safety is another cause of childhood injury that we can prevent by providing a safe environment and a strong set of rules. At my child care facility, during the summer months we have water play, but we don't have any pools or standing water. We use a sprinkler and have extra staff to supervise the children. For our school age children if we go to a pool we have to be the only ones in the pool and it most have life guards present. We also prepare the children ahead of time by going over water safety rules.

At home, the pool, the ocean, the ponds or lakes, you should always supervise the children and make sure that they know the rules that you set for them. A large body of water is a fun but very dangerous place for children and adults who may not know what to do if they find themselves tired, or in trouble. Another way to prevent injury around bodies of water is to take swim lessons prior to any water activity, and use the proper lifesaving or floating devices. When it comes to water safety, whether you are at a pool, the Ocean, on a boat, or at the lake you should always follow the rules posted and never leave children unattended.

How to Prevent Childhood Injuries

Providing a safe environment is key in preventing any childhood injury. How can we provide a safe environment for our children? Well that is a good question, we can first research and read up on different harmful situations and safety threats that can injury our children at different ages, and how we can prevent them. Second look at the environment as a child would. Thirdly use safety precautions, like cabinet locks, outlet covers, and read the ingredients on food products. Next provide the child with educational age appropriate toys. And lastly, always use proper supervision both indoors and outdoors. I know that many of us follow these simple “RULES” when it comes to the safety of our children, whether at school or at home. 

The safety issues that I mentioned in this blog are just a few of the hazardous situations and safety threats that cause injuries to our children in and out of our supervision. The ones that I mentioned are the ones that are the most prominent in our lives today. I hope that my blog entry was informative and helpful to you.