Playground safety stressed at Rehoboth Elementary
While recess typically ranks among the favorite times of a student’s day, unsafe use of playground equipment can put a damper on the fun and lead to serious injuries.
To help children learn safe practices, Jennifer McCue, the injury prevention coordinator for the trauma program at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, visited Rehoboth Elementary Dec. 1 to meet with recess staff and several classes.
McCue uses data to determine the most frequent injuries seen in the ER and develops programs to teach children and parents how to avoid them.
About 50 percent of traumatic injuries are due to falls, McCue said, and the reason for the fall depends on the age group. In elementary schools, most falls happen on the playground, particularly the monkey bars, McCue said.
Before speaking with students, McCue met with recess staff who walked her around the playground and told her what issues they see occurring with certain pieces of equipment. McCue photographed playground areas to incorporate into her discussion with students.
McCue showed students a series of photographs depicting children playing unsafely on a playground, and students had to say what the children are doing wrong - whether it’s going down the slide headfirst, doubling up with another child on one swing; or playing in bare feet or flip-flops.
At the end of the presentation, students received pencils and coloring/activity books stressing playground safety to take home the message.
Because Nemours sees children with dog bites every week at the hospital, McCue said she also developed a dog safety program she will soon debut in schools to help students recognize when a dog is giving warning signs that may lead to aggression.
