Students taught in-home dangers
Helping children to identify and avoid common safety hazards in the home, the Great Safety Adventure rolled in town yesterday for a three-day engagement at local schools and Lowe’s.
Roughly the size of a small house, the Great Safety Adventure is a 1,200-square-foot “house” which unfolds from two tractor-trailers to create replicas of a living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and backyard. Led by “safety rangers,” children tour the house in an effort to locate common safety hazards, including those that might lead to fires and burns, poisonings, choking and suffocation and slips and falls.
Officials with the Home Safety Council note that while most parents’ safety concerns for their children lie outside the home, few are aware of the potential dangers that can occur right under their roof. Unintentional injuries within the home account for more than 20 million medical visits each year, the group says.
To reduce this statistic, the Home Safety Council created its “field trip on wheels” in 1999. Sponsored by Lowe’s, the Great Safety Adventure has, since its inception, reached in excess of 500,000 children and parents at schools, malls and other public venues.
Children begin their safety adventure in the house’s living room. Armed with flashlights they proceed through the house, all the while on the lookout for such safety hazards as poisonous cleaning supplies in easy-to-reach cabinets, protruding pot handles on a stove and a hair dryer close to a sink with running water.
When children spot one of these hazards they are prompted to say “Code red Rover, grown-up come over,” which encourages them to seek adult assistance when coming upon such dangerous situations. Rover is the Great Safety Adventure’s Home Safety Hound.
At Hickory Creek Elementary School yesterday, the Great Safety Adventure will be at West Elementary School today. Tomorrow the interactive exhibit will be at the local Lowe’s from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Though geared toward children in kindergarten through fourth grade, children and parents of all ages are encouraged to visit the free exhibit.