Over the weekend in Phoenix, two more toddlers were pulled from pools at family gatherings. Local campaigns to “watch your children around water” seem to have little affect on these recurring “accidents”.  Supposedly, parents, relatives and caregivers get “understandably distracted” at family get-togethers and in a few short moments a child is discovered underwater!  A 2 year old in Taylorsville drowned after getting into an above ground pool while being “cared for” by a babysitter. In Gainesville, a 20-month-old girl drowned in the family pool when no one was watching. What is reported, as “a rare or freak accident” is not so rare when tracked daily around the country. In any case, are we becoming so hardened that there is acceptable level of tolerance for preventable child fatalities?   a63gbrsp8u

Other recent child deaths involving automobiles include a Phoenix 2-year old that ran in front of an SUV and was fatally struck at a trailer park.  Another 2-year-old Lexington toddler was left in a hot car for hours while being “cared for” by her grandparents and died. In a similar situation a St. Augustine 1-year old was left behind, in the car seat, and died. A Bay Minette toddler was killed when he was run over by his mother. These are all headlines from this past week! If they all happened in the same town, maybe someone would be up in arms about it but since they happened in different cities, they are reported as “a freak accident!”

Toddlers and small children are very vulnerable to accidental death. They are too young to acknowledge a preventable accident before it happens and cry out for help. They almost always, can’t swim. They do not have the life experience to recognize danger when it confronts them, and have almost no danger avoidance skills. They depend on responsible parents and caregivers to look around corners for them, protect them from danger and make choices for them to keep them out of harms way.

Most people are sympathetic to those that loose a child to a preventable accident. Sympathy pours in for parents, relatives and even caregivers when a lapse costs a baby his or her life. It is certainly something for us all to feel sorry about. Unfortunately, too little is happening to advocate for that young, and now lifeless tiny body that was once bouncing with energy, in order to put a stop to these needless tragedies.

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water safety | pool safety | child deaths | child safety