RoSPA raises awareness of children's right to safety in the home

2 Oct 2014 12:38 PM

It is up to parents to teach children how to stay safe, according to children in Scotland who took part in a home safety survey conducted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

Teachers also have a responsibility to ensure children know how to keep themselves safe, the survey revealed.  

RoSPA, which has been at the heart of accident prevention for almost a century, joined forces with the Children’s Parliament to carry out the research, entitled Home Free, to raise awareness of children’s rights in relation to staying safe in the home.

A total of 96 per cent of the children who took part said parents should teach them about staying safe, while 92 per cent thought teachers had a role to play. Firefighters and police officers were mentioned by 84 per cent, while 81 per cent selected doctors and nurses as one of their choices.

And out of the 93 per cent of children who reported having an accident, 43 per cent said it had happened in their home, with the most common accidents involving trampolines, hair straighteners, fingers being trapped in doors and trips and falls.

Many of the children, who were aged 9-11, felt that their injury could have been avoided if they had the right safety equipment, such as wearing a helmet while cycling.

The children also discussed their right to stay safe and whose responsibility they thought it was to keep them safe.  

In addition to the child-friendly survey, which was taken by 153 children, 79 children - also aged 9-11 - from five primary schools took part in creative workshops to explore home safety issues.

They talked about their personal experiences and how best to keep themselves safe and used their creative skills to design their own public service advertising campaigns.

Elizabeth Lumsden, RoSPA’s community safety manager in Scotland, said: “Accidents and unintentional injuries in the home remain one of the main causes of hospital admissions and deaths of children.

“We carried out the survey, in conjunction with the Children’s Parliament, to establish how children view accidents and how they feel about safety. We also wanted to raise awareness of the importance of keeping children safe in the home.

“Unfortunately, more children are injured in the home than anywhere else so it is imperative that we make sure they are aware of the importance of staying safe.

“The more children we can make safety aware, the more lives can be saved.”

A short film of the workshops and a free poster can be viewed at www.rospa.com/about/aroundtheuk/scotland/research-with-children.aspx