Accidents in Children and Adolescents

Accidents in Children

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Accidents are a regular part of children's lives, and they play a major role in the children's physical development. The most common type of accidents in children is fall, and this accounts for about 45% of the total childrens accidents (Fox, 2010). Most falls occur at children's homes and the most severe falls happen in the kitchen and on the staircases. Children are not stable as compared to their older counterparts, thus; they are likely to lose their balance on a frequent basis and fall. The majority of children are bubbly and vigorous, and they want to explore everything in their sight; hence, they will often try to reach out for various items at their homes. Boys below the age of four are most vulnerable to serious accidents and are likely to experience burns, scalds, poisoning, and fractures. These accidents happen because children have limited perceptions about their environments and are not aware of dangerous items (Fox, 2010). Most children's burns are caused by hot irons, hot liquids, and fires that are left unattended.

Another common accident among the kids is drowning; children love to play with water and can easily drown when left unattended. For instance, when a guardian leaves a child inside a basin with bathing water; the child may bury his/her head in the water and have difficulties in breathing that may result in death. Such cases have occurred for the longest time and are still among the top causes of child mortality. It is also important to observe simple regulations such as keeping drugs out of children's reach to prevent cases of poisoning. This is because children lack the knowledge about food and poison and tend to ingest anything on their grasp. Thus, it is the obligation of caregivers to ensure that this innocent population is safe by keeping dangerous items properly in places that children cannot reach. It is also important that they offer constant attention to children to ensure that the risks of accidents are highly minimized to help avoid preventable accidental occasions and save children's life and health.

Accidents in Adolescence

Adolescence is a fundamental stage in human life since it involves various changes in one's behaviors. These changes range from normal senses and brain functions which determine how one acts towards certain issues. From a recently concluded research, it has been established that teens are vulnerable to accidents and the rates increase from early childhood to late adolescence. According to the researches, the high rates of accidents involving adolescents are attributed to the fact that people in the age group tend to engage in risky activities that endanger their safety. Given that the majority of teens enjoy freedom to do whatever they want to, most of them will go to extreme levels to fulfill their quest for fun. In most incidences, they might end up severely injured or even succumb to accidents.

These accidents may vary from tragic road carnages to accidental infections of chronic diseases. For example, most teenage boys think that driving under the influence of drugs is fun; and most teenage girls will like to be associated with such type of boys. In the long run, these teenagers' lives are brought to an end when an accident occurs as a result of drunk driving and speeding. Also, Biology has a major role in these occasions since the maturation of the brain networks that are responsible for self-control takes place at late adolescence (Schwarz, 2009). Research has also shown that adolescents tend to engage in violent ordeals that may cause injuries to the fighting persons. Such behaviors are blamed on substance abuse including the use of hard drugs and alcoholism. Drugs interfere with the proper reasoning of a person, thus; motivating people to engage in risky activities that they cannot engage in when sober. The majority of road carnage cases involving adolescents have been traced back to alcohol abuse, hence; these injuries and deaths are unintentional (Schwarz, 2009). Therefore, young people lose their lives in the roads due to their nature of poor concentration and judgments. These facts are evident in the older generation which registers a lower mortality rate as compared to the adolescents who perish in violence and alcohol related accidents.

Preventing Accidents

There are numerous ways to prevent accidents in children and adolescents; these methods include offering adequate supervision to children when they learn to walk since at this stage they tend to become more playful. Keeping floors clean and dry may help to prevent them from falling since they are fragile and can experience severe fractures. Ensure that all dangerous items such as electronic items are kept far from their reach to stop them from getting electrocuted. Small items such as marbles can easily choke children, thus; such items should be kept from children's reach. To prevent accidents in adolescents, it is important that parents offer them with adequate pieces of advice on how to conduct themselves to ensure their safety. When youngsters are aware of the changes taking place, they can control their actions since they understand the process taking place in their lives.

In the case of an accident, one should seek medical help immediately to prevent deaths and other related aftermaths. Accidents cannot be avoided entirely but can be minimized if people take charge of certain things and observe positive behavioral changes such as avoiding drunk driving and careless disposal of harmful products. Adequate sleep, healthy diet, and exercise are also important aspects of physical development both in kids and adults. The three factors promote physical development and enhance the brain function, thus; helping people especially teens to stay healthy and productive. However, dangerous routines such as lack of exercise and unhealthy diet may result in obesity-related situations and destroy the wellbeing of ones physical status.

References

Fox, H. (2010). 7 Common Childhood Accidents And How To Prevent Them. Mother and Baby.Schwarz, S. W. (October 2009). Adolescent Violence and Unintentional Injury in the United

States . National Center for Children in Poverty, 1.Jones, G. (2003). Effect of physical activity on cartilage development in healthy kids. British

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