Supervision of children aged two through six years.

Abstract

Manufacturers of household products--including appliances, exercise equipment, and even some children's toys--expect consumers to supervise their children to prevent product-related injuries. This approach to hazard prevention places the burden of safety on parents and caretakers. This study examined actual supervision practices of parents of children between the ages of two and six years. 59 parents, aged 31 to 40 years, residing in Montgomery County, Maryland, completed a 24-item self-administered questionnaire, consisting of multiple choice and open-ended questions. Nearly all respondents reported that there are times when their children are in a different room from them. When the children are out of sight, parents reported checking on their children periodically, with increasingly longer periods between observations, as the child gets older. Nearly half of the children got out of bed in the morning always or often before a parent. Ninety-five percent of parents perceived that their child was at no risk or slight risk of injury when getting up in the morning before them. In conclusion, it can be said that many parents supervise their children by being close-by and on-hand as needed, rather than being directly involved in the child's activities. Manufacturers are encouraged to employ passive measures and sound designs, rather than rely on close parental supervision for injury prevention.

The cost of foreign body injuries in the upper aero-digestive tract: Need for a change from a clinical to a public health perspective?

“…The average LOS in our study is in line with data published, ranging from 1.97 [14] and 2.5 days [15] up to 3.7 days per admission. Longer LOS are commonly attributed to delayed or overlooked diagnosis [16] due to the onset of complications which usually reflect into a prolonged hospitalization.…”

The Nature of Caregiver Supervision of Young Children in Public Pools

“…Prior findings have suggested that child age affects the nature of caregiver supervision, with younger children monitored more closely (Pollack-Nelson & Drago, 2002). In this study, preschool children were highly supervised, possibly influenced by the recommendation by key water safety stakeholder RLSSA (2010) that children aged 0-4 years require close, constant, and focused supervision.…”

“…Supervision is often an assumed method of injury prevention (Pollack-Nelson & Drago, 2002); however, previous studies have indicated that a number of factors affect the level of supervision caregivers provide to children (Kendrick et al, 2007;Morrongiello, Ondejko, & Littlejohn, 2004b;Petrass et al, 2011b). In public pools, the age of the child, the age of the caregiver, the number of children for whom the caregiver was responsible, and the swimming ability of the child affected the nature of supervision and often resulted in children been placed at increased risk of unintentional injury.…”

Interactions Between Child Behavior Patterns and Parent Supervision: Implications for Children’s Risk of Unintentional Injury

“…Although few studies have direct measures of supervisory behaviors per se, parents report they believe that they less closely supervise older than younger children (Garling & Garling, 1993;Pollack-Nelson & Drago, 2002). There also is some indirect evidence to suggest that boys are less closely supervised than girls (Fagot, 1974(Fagot, , 1978Newson & Newson, 1976;Saegert & Hart, 1976); however, recent direct comparisons of home supervision revealed only one sex difference that supported this notion (Morrongiello et al, 2006b).…”