Warning: Computers may be hazardous to your child’s health

No, I’m not talking about getting ADHD from video games or needing glasses from over-exposure to bright or flickering monitors. I’m talking about being a good old-fashioned klutz.

Now, I have no room to talk because I run into the corners of walls and trip over rugs! But, that’s another story. For most of us, we know where our computers are, where the cords go, and not to do things like pull on the TV stand. Unfortunately, kids don’t usually display that kind of common sense right out of the womb. And according to an article that was posted in the June 9 online issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, injuries to children 9 and under have increased 732 percent from 1994-2006. Part of that is due to the increase in the number of households with computers – but what does it also tell you about safety issues we’ve all but ignored?

I remember when I was growing-up and the big concern for safety was pull blinds with loops. That was an easy fix to simply manufacture blinds with non-looping pulls. Unfortunately, as accessories in the home get more complicated, so do the problems. The greatest jump in injuries occurred in the under 5 age group, which is no surprise. I can still remember panicking because my daughter, now 3, pushed the bright blue button on my computer that was evidently screaming ‘play with me’ in baby-speak. Luckily, I didn’t lose any data. It could have been much worse had I not been there – not for me, but for her.

A mess of wires, components that outgrow their homes, wobbly assembly-required desks and an increasing amount of busy-time all contribute to a problem that will continue to grow if we don’t become aware of it. We certainly can’t save kids from everything – nothing short of a cage around my high-chair would have saved me from falling-out and hitting right above my eye on a particularly odd-shaped kitchen cabinet pull when I was a toddler. But we can improve our awareness of our surroundings. And maybe one day some enterprising children’s rights advocate will get Home Depot and other stores to display the wire organizers and conduit right next to those nifty, plastic electrical outlet plugs and doorknob covers.

Have a baby or young child in the house? Here are some steps you can take to protect both them and your equipment!

1) Make sure anything heavy, expensive or both is on a sturdy desk/stand of adequate size
2) Tug on the furniture – if it wobbles even the slightest bit, consider attaching it to the wall (Hint – sit down or kneel on the floor to do this. The angle may make a difference and that’s where your child is tugging from)
3) Most power strips are wall-mountable to help keep them away from exploring hands. If your desk/stand is not open underneath, consider putting it behind and secure cords so they can’t be used to pull anything out
4) Especially if you need time to yourself to work, consider making your home office/computer room off-limits to children. (Kids are sneaky – if they are allowed inside when you are around, they will be more likely to creep in when you’re not!)
5) Be careful if you have a computer desk with doors to ‘hide’ your computer and power supply. Make sure there is adequate ventilation and a small child can’t just reach behind the desk to the open back!
6) Teach your child as early as you’re comfortable to be safe around equipment of any kind. Pretty soon, they’ll be sitting in your computer chair and you’ll be wondering how they got *that* up on the screen!

It should be mentioned that, in addition to children, adults over 60 also have an increasing rate of injury from computer equipment. In that age group, it’s mostly from tripping-over equipment that is in the way. If you get a computer for your older parent(s) or take care of someone in your home, keep them in mind, too! Have a designated place for the computer(s) and make sure it’s as out-of-the-way as possible.