Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Kids and trampolines...a bad mix in my opinion

In case you are wondering about the conversation that I had with Charlie Chautin about trampolines that I just discovered she mentioned in her blog, Friends for the Journey...

Charlie and I were having a discussion about trampolines and their safety or lack thereof. I told her that probably (because I am a Mom) the point that stands out most clearly in my mind after writing an article about Dana and Christopher Reeve after attending Dana's talk was that so many children have ended up paralyzed because of falling off or falling on their heads on a trampoline. Dana said that she and Christopher encountered so many paralyzed children at the hospitals and therapy places that Christopher attended. She said the causes of their accidents were in most of the cases from trampolines.

You can never be too careful when it comes to trampolines. Kids always want to play bouncing games on a trampoline involving another child bouncing at the same time. This is dangerous because children can collide with one another in this way due to the unpredictability in their bouncing. I have seen this with little children and with teens. I believe that trampolines should have a safety netting around them for children and that there should be very strict rules regarding trampolines. Parents should not let their children play unsupervised on a trampoline. And let's not forget that a trampoline in your yard is very tempting to neighbor kids who might go on it when you are not home and may get hurt.

Interestingly, after Charlie and I had that conversation, she and her father-in-law were watching Charlie's little daughter, Abby AKA "Little Miss Cautious" happily play on their trampoline. Charlie had been discussing trampoline safety with her father-in-law in light of our conversation. As Abby jumped, Charlie carefully and attentively spotted Abby, always telling her to bounce in the middle, and then suddenly Abby went flying almost clear off the edge of the trampoline. It was a miracle that Charlie and her father-in-law were able to catch Abby before she could fall on her head on the ground. Charlie told me that the trampoline is now off limits after that frightening incident until they install a safety net. They are very thankful that the mishap did not end in a disaster.

So, all of the trampoline lovers may hate me for being outspoken about this, but I would rather be hated and help to prevent heartache and possibly save lives.

2 comments:

Suzanne Temple said...

This is good to know. I had no idea they caused so many injuries. I guess we won't be getting one of those.

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle said...

Yes, it's too bad because surely it is good exercise, but I feel trampolines are way too dangerous and why take the chance?