Dr. Rippe's Blog

Starting this week in many areas of the country, our kids head back to school. In the whirl of doing all the things necessary to get them ready and still keep up with our own work, it can be useful to take a moment to remind ourselves of some of the things beyond getting the right "stuff" we can do to help keep our children safe.

Traveling safely

• Make sure children know a safe route to the bus stop or to school if they walk. Help them pick the route and walk it with them. Make sure they know safety rules for crossing streets and the like. Discuss safe school bus behavior and how to cope with other riders who may encourage misbehavior, tease or bully
• If children bike to school, plan a safe route with them and go over safety rules. Bike the route with them. Make sure they have and use helmets and other safety equipment.
• If you drive or carpool children to school, make sure to let them off as close as possible and watch until they are inside the school yard or building.
• Go over cautions for interacting with strangers.

Avoiding health hazards

• Talk with your children about the importance of washing their hands frequently. Discuss washing hands before meals and after play. Provide a small bottle of hand sanitizer for desks or lockers to use when washing isn't possible.
• Emphasize the importance of not sharing towels, brushes, or other personal hygience items with others. Schools, particularly sports programs, have recently been implicated in a higher rate of skin infections related to shared facilities and personal items.
• If your child takes lunch, make sure that the meal can stay cool or be properly refrigerated or that it does not require refrigeration.

Getting along with others

• Talk about proper playground manners and behavior with your children. Discuss how to handle children who may threaten or misbehave. Make sure your children know you are always available to talk about any problems or fears they may have.
• Discuss strategies for dealing with bullying or teasing. Again make sure your kids know they can talk to you any time.

Back to School Tips from the American Academy of Pediatricians provides helpful specifics for these and many more tips.

In recent days the news has been full of stories about the scarcity of summer jobs for teens. And comics' storylines have out-of-school kids vegging all day in front of the television. These are concerns for working parents who want our teens to have productive summers and for the kids themselves who'd like to earn some money. Fortunately, with a little entrepreneurial spirit and creativity, most teens (with support from parents) can create jobs for themselves. Here are just a few ideas that I've seen working in our area.

• Lawn care. This tried-and-true endeavor still works. A friend who moved to another city was so excited to open the door one afternoon shortly after her arrival to a pair of neighborhood siblings and their lawn mower. They do a great job mowing the lawn (checked on periodically by their father), are happy to oblige with occasional weed whacking, and do it for a fee that earns them a good hourly wage but is significantly less than fancy lawn services. Other jobs related to gardening (including weeding, ugh) are also opportunities.
• Child care. Another tried and true job. Teens may offer occasional "babysitting" jobs or may offer regularly scheduled help such as caring for kids after they finish their day camps/day care programs but before working parents get home. Other families may want to have a teen companion/minder for children for the summer.
• Pet sitting. Summer is vacation time for most families. Many would rather have a neighbor kid come in to care for Fido or Fluff in the pet's home rather than board the animals.
• Odd jobs. Circularize the neighborhood offering to help do odds jobs such as clean out attics or basements or provide assistance to help neighbors accomplish do-it-yourself projects.
• Power washing walks, drives, and decks. This job calls for some equipment and skill. But the jobs may be in demand. Resealing decks after power washing is also possible.
• Computer services. Many teens have great computer knowledge and skills. Offering to install new equipment and software and/or to troubleshoot problems can bring in work that may continue during the school year. I've known more than one small business whose computer expert was a student.
• Pool service. Summer is pool time. Even if families use a pool service, they may want someone to clean the pool and pool deck daily in the morning and check the chemicals. One twosome of teens I heard of worked three or four hours from six to nine or ten in the morning and had the rest of the day for other activities.

With a little thought, I'm sure your teen can match some of his or her skills to something the neighborhood or community needs and learn some valuable life lessons while doing it.

With warmer weather and the end of school, kids and families will be heading to the pool, the lake, and the beach. Nothing can be more refreshing than being in or on the water for everything from splashing and swimming to fishing and boating. In 2006 (the latest date for which figures are available), deaths from drowning average ten per day in the U.S. Though deaths from drowning have decreased, they remain the second-leading cause of death from unintentional injury in children aged 14 and younger.

What can we do to keep our children safe as we all enjoy the water. The Centers for Disease Control and other authorities suggest adopting these safety practices.

• Supervise children at all times. For pre-schoolers an adults should stay within easy physical touch. For older children, keep an eye on them without participating in distracting activities (including reading).
• Select sites with lifeguards. These can supplement parental or adult supervision. Have older children use the buddy system in swimming or other water activities.
• Have your children learn to swim. Formal swimming classes taught by qualified instructors can help even very young children avoid drowning or water injury. As of May 2010, the American Academy of Pediatricians now recommends swimming lessons for children ages 1 to 3 because research has shown that these help prevent drowning. Supervision by adults for all young children at all times is still necessary, however.
• Use life jackets on water craft. These should be age- and size-appropriate. Water wings, foam toys and other "flotation" devices are not safe substitutes for life jackets.
• Know the weather conditions and forecast before going in the water.  Thunderstorms are always dangerous whether swimming or boating. At the beach rip currents and other water conditions may also be hazardous; if the beach or lake uses a system of colored warning flags learn what they mean and act accordingly.

By taking just a few precautions, the whole family can enjoy fun in the water.