Summer Safety Tips from Toddlers to Teens and More
It’s summertime in Massachusetts. The sun is shining, the kids are off from school, the flowers are blooming, and life is beautiful. But along with barbecues, cookouts, family vacays, and spending more time in the glorious outdoors come the hazards of summer.
Here are some timely summer safety tips to help you and your family get through the next few weeks as happy and healthy as you all were the moment the bell rang at the end of the school year.
- Apply sunscreen 30 minutes before heading outside
- Wear a hat
- Drink plenty of water
- Use bug deterrents
- Check yourself and the kids for ticks after playing outside
- Wear appropriate helmets and protective gear like life vests
- Take a First Aid and Safety course
Summer Safety Tips for Protection from Physical Harm
Protecting kids from physical hazards can be daunting, especially those adventurous ones. Summer safety hazards can include:
- Drowning
- Sunburn
- Food poisoning
- Swimmer’s ear
- Poisonous plants
- Scrapes
- Bruises
- Fractures and many more.
Keeping yourself apprised of summer safety hazards and how to protect your family against injury can be the best tactic for safe summer. However, accidents happen. In some instances, you will need to contact someone who can help. An experienced personal injury or negligence lawyer is what you need.
It’s hard to protect them when they’re not under your own watchful eyes. In some families, both parents work outside the home. In other cases, kids march off to summer camp, visit friends and relatives, or take part in summer activities at local community centers.
Summer Safety Tips for Parents Who Work
If both parents work, the annual struggle of summertime childcare rears its inconvenient head. Are your kids old enough to leave at home alone while you’re both at work, or do you need to make seasonal childcare arrangements?
According to Title XVI Chapter 119 Section 39 of Massachusetts law, it is illegal to leave a child under the age of 10 at home alone. However, parents of children in the commonwealth are legally responsible for their behavior until they are 18 years old.
If you do decide to leave a child at home, experts suggest for the first time you do so for no more than an hour. Then gradually increase the length of time you are away as they become competent and you grow confident.
Printing out and laminating a set of written children’s summer safety rules will help guide them in safely staying home alone.
Some of the situations you would want to address can include:
- What do you want them to do if the telephone rings
- How to take a message
- What to say you’re not able to come to the phone without letting the caller know there’s no adult in the house
- Rules about answering the door
- What should they do if the fire alarm goes off
- What steps they should they take if a sibling chokes or injures themselves
Your safety rules should also include whom to contact in an emergency. Make sure they have a landline number for you in case your cell phone battery runs out or you are in a mobile signal dead zone. Give them the number of someone else who can help them if they can’t reach you.
When Kids are Away from Home
Short of wrapping them in bubble wrap, strapping a camera to their heads and speaking to them through an earpiece when you spot potential trouble, there’s not a lot you can do to keep them safe 24/7. Sometimes, accidents are just accidents, and they’re nobody’s fault.
Other times, accidents and injuries are the results of someone’s negligence. Or your own son or daughter might inadvertently damage someone’s property or cause an injury.
It’s sad but true, summertime increases the chance that you might need the help of a personal injury or even a criminal lawyer. If someone near and dear to you is on the receiving end of someone’s negligence, a personal injury attorney can help you put together a claim for compensation for property damage or medical bills. On the other hand, if your child does something for which you are legally liable, you’ll need an experienced defense lawyer.
