Allowing your child to watch television shows is a great way for them to pass the time. However, a new study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery Pediatrics highlights the very real risk to our children’s lives that large, flat-screen TVs can pose.
Toronto researchers who conducted the research found that “toddlers between the ages of 1 and 3 years often suffered neck and head injuries, which could be fatal”, as a result of TVs toppling on to them.
This is happening more often due to consumer demand for larger TV that are also top-heavy, which makes them more prone to tipping over easily, especially if unsecured.
Lead author of the study Dr. Michael Cusimano, a professor of neurology, education and public health at the University of Toronto, says “As a hazard in the home, it’s [TVs] the perfect storm. Kids are left unsupervised around a big television that is not properly secured.”
As parents, we all know just how curious our little ones are, especially when they get more mobile. So, as Dr Cusimano explains, “it’s not unusual for a curious child to climb up onto a piece of furniture that holds a TV, Cusimano says. The child can knock the TV off balance and it comes crashing down on the kid’s head.”
To give you a very scary example of just how much damage a TV falling on to your child can cause, “the heaviest TVs falling a meter onto a small kids’s head is equivalent to the child falling 10 storeys. These can potentially be fatal injuries,” says Dr Cusimano.
A child’s natural curiosity coupled with the fact that many TVs are unsecured is a disaster waiting to happen.
Add to the mix the fact that many TVs are placed on pieces of furniture that a child can easily climb up or topple over, results in not just the TV, but also the furniture falling on to the child.
The result of having a television falling onto your kid can lead to injuries such as skull fractures and Epidural Hematomas which can lead to both short and long term effects.
Here are some safety tips to prevent TV sets toppling on to you child from occurring
- Restrict play areas away from TVs
- Mount your TV securely on the wall instead of just placing it on top of shelves/wardrobes
- If you wish to place your TV on a piece of furniture, stand it on heavy, furniture and in the middle instead of at the edge.
Take note of these safety tips and keep your child safe! And don’t forget to share your thoughts on this article in a comment below.
