The three major causes of injury and mortality among children in the state of Virginia are, in order of frequency, automobile-related accidents, poison ingestion, and suicide. With respect to injuries sustained in automobile accidents, adults traveling with children by car must accept responsibility for the safety of child passengers. Acute…

The incidence and causes of children's accidents in the home are briefly described. Data on the most common types and locations of such accidents are provided in tables. Characteristics of children and the home environment that contribute to accidents are briefly discussed. In conclusion, problems associated with accident prevention strategies,…

Changing transportation policies, involving parents, and working with children and community leaders are methods that early childhood educators can use to increase the transportation safety of the children in their programs. Included is an annotated bibliography on preschool child transportation safety. (AS)

This article is an open letter of a group of early childhood education (ECE) practitioners to Premier Wen Jiabao. This open letter was written with one goal in mind: to ask Premier Wen's government to take measures to protect young children and support early childhood education. These practitioners have become worried about the many accidents that…

Introductory article to this theme issue on child safety indicates that injury from accidents is principal childhood public health problem of the United States and notes it is an epidemic that can be controlled through targeted prevention strategies such as parent education to enhance home and school safety. (SM)

The importance of motor development has been well understood by early childhood educators for many years. Unfortunately, they have received little in the way of guidance from designers or manufacturers of play equipment as to how to provide for safe active play. Things have gotten a lot better since 1991. Advocates for children's play have…

Since 1994, at least three children of migrant workers have been maimed in Georgia packing houses while waiting for their parents to finish work. In this personal narrative, a former migrant educational outreach worker describes one such incident in May 1996, in which a 2-year-old lost his hand to the machinery of a Georgia onion packing shed. The…

This article describes aspects of the environment for children in Sweden and discusses some of the measures taken or planned for improvement. The significance of the residential environment is explored, and the nature of the child care system in a country where over 80 percent of women with small children work outside the home is described. Also…

American Indian and Alaska Native children have almost twice the injury mortality rate for all U. S. children. Recommendations to pediatricians working with Native patients cover communication strategies, collaboration with tribes and the Indian Health Service to develop community-based coalitions and culturally relevant accident prevention…