Rec and Sports

Ensure Safe And Fun Outdoor Play

For many years, children have been jumping into lakes, rolling down hills, riding on bike ramps and climbing trees. Although these activities have been around, they have been giving the title of extreme sports. Now, you can ask you child to stop these activities, or you can provide them with the proper safety equipment and be sure that it is being worn.

Each year there are numerous broken bones from skateboard and bike accidents. There are many serious head injuries and fatalities from non use or improper helmet use. Although, many argue that when they were young they never wore a helmet or protective gear and they survived. Well, all I can say is maybe you were just lucky! I am positive that everyone has known somebody that has gotten badly hurt by falling off their bike, that a emergency room visit was required.

I, for one, could have avoided a broken wrist and a bruised skull if I was wearing the proper safety equipment. I was also friends with a girl that was rushed to the emergency room with head injuries and another boy in my school was hit by a car and died, while riding his bike. I am not saying that a helmet would have definitely saved him, but you never know. No matter what used to be, it is a pretty simple thing to make sure that your child wears protective gear, after all as a parent don’t we want to protect our children, even if we never protected ourselves.

If they are playing football, you’d make them wear a helmet and pads, if they are playing baseball you would make them wear a cup and cleats, so why would riding a bike or skateboard be any different. At the minimum, they should always wear a helmet, arms and legs can usually be fixed, but heads are hard to replace. Along with the proper helmet, most helmets can be used for rollerblading, skateboarding and bike riding, they are made sport interchangeable.

Before you purchase a helmet you want to check out the specifications to make sure you are getting the proper size. If your child will be competing in an extreme sport they do make helmet that are designed specifically for certain sports and those are the ones you should be using. Besides a helmet knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards are also a good idea. Hip and back pads will also be a wise choice if your child is going to be riding on ramps or skating, as these are dangerous activities and tend to lead to numerous back injuries.