For most kids, delivery of the Newspaper this week coincides with the last day of school.
School’s out for summer.
Recognizing that event, it doesn’t hurt to offer up a reminder about safety over the summer. The excitement of completing another grade, coupled with the fun weeks that lie ahead, means students can easily be a little pre-occupied. It is up to parents, then, to offer up some reminders about working and playing safely over the holidays.
Older students will have the opportunity to start a summer job. Far too often, minimal training takes place and accidents are just a misstep away. Most companies and, we hope, farm operations will have some form of orientation before setting kids loose. It will be a few minutes well invested to talk about what to do in the case of an emergency.
Tragically, neighbours to the west suffered another farm fatality recently as a youngster was run over. The fellow telling us about it has instituted a walk-around policy on his farm, much the same as big industry does, before climbing onto a tractor or getting into a vehicle. Accidents happen too easily and that step might take a few seconds, but its benefits are immeasurable.
For kids attending camps, we suggest a refresher on water safety, wearing life jackets as required and keeping an eye out for danger. It is very sad to pull up press reports each week about young people drowning or getting hurt when we know many of those tragedies could have been avoided.
Adults, too, will need to be more vigilant when driving. Young kids can get pretty excited about biking to a friend’s house or off to the store – and lose track of traffic.
Very often, drivers rely on what we think the other guy is going to do when driving, rather than waiting to see what they actually do. We tend to rely on what we perceive to be “intentions” at our own peril, setting ourselves up for a fender bender when the person doesn’t do what we thought he would. In the case of kids, the risk of driving based on what the kid should do is a giant mistake. Please be careful.
School’s out and we wish students a safe holiday this summer.
