Keep Your Child Well at School - Part III (Stress and Playground Safety)

To our patients, clients and friends from the world over - American Medical Centers offers sincere and heartfelt condolences to all those who were affected by the tragedies in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania on September 11. As we continue our Healthcare Updates today, we are reminded of all those fine individuals from around the globe who have offered their support and understanding and we thank you most sincerely.

Playground Safety

Playgrounds can be dangerous places for younger children. Try to find out whether they are adequately supervised, preferably by special staff or volunteers. Play equipment can present hazards, such as open "S" hooks, protruding bolt ends or open spaces that can trap a child's foot or a head.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says most playground injuries occur when a child falls from the equipment onto the ground. All equipment should have at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand or pea gravel beneath and around it, or mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubberlike materials. The surfacing should extend in at least six feet in all directions from equipment such as swings, or at least twice the height of the suspending bar.

Stress

Homework is not something one would expect to be on the list of potential dangers for students. The National Parent Teacher Association suggests that students do 10 minutes of homework per grade: 10 minutes for first graders, an hour for sixth graders and two hours for high school seniors. The National Education Association's suggested limit for the early grades is similar, with no more than 10 to 20 minutes for children in kindergarten through the second grade, and no more than 30 to 60 minutes for third through sixth graders. Anything more than that, combined with any other activities children engage in - soccer, swimming, dance lessons, instrumental music lessons and even martial arts - can result in a complete loss of free time, for both the youngsters and the parents who chauffeur them.

The result, inevitably, is stress, which impacts happiness and health - particularly susceptibility to infections. If homework is eating up a student's life, it's appropriate to discuss that fact with teachers or school administrators.

In fact, when it comes to keeping your children safer at school, good communication with teachers, school authorities and the children themselves is extremely important. Becoming active in parent-teacher organizations and school activities is one of the best ways to improve your child's school experience.

Other publications:

Raw vegetables and fruits counteract heart risk genes

Back to School: Child Safety

Baby Safety from Newborns to Toddlers

Travel Tips

Summer Advantage

See all publications