by Rachael Stark
There's a lot of hype about scooters these days. Everywhere you turn, it seems as if kids have taken to the streets. What was once a quaint 1950s leisure item has suddenly become a means of transportation. However, as styles, prices and colors of scooters have proliferated, so have alarming reports. Pediatricians cite an array of dangers; emergency rooms across the country have been admitting increasing numbers of children; and school officials who confront these vehicles and their riders daily have their hands full. "On one day, we saw four or five children with scooter-related injuries," reports Dr. Wing Tsang, assistant clinical director of pediatric emergency services in the department of emergency medicine at New York Methodist Hospital.
And what was thought to be a summer fad is not likely to go away. In fact, the scooter has replaced the skateboard as the preferred means of transportation among elementary and middle school children, and it seems to be here to stay. With the variety of scooters available on today's market and their prices continually falling, what's a parent to do? And are the safety concerns of parents and professionals valid?
Dr. Marcy Stein-Albert, associate director of pediatrics at Queens Hospital Center, acknowledges, "There are a lot of reports from emergency rooms around the country that have seen an increase in accidents"; but she emphasizes a "false sense of security," rather than the scooters themselves, that make their use so dangerous. Dr. Stein-Albert notes that "kids don't use the same protective gear with scooters that they do with Rollerblades and skateboards," and reminds parents as well as children that "it's a matter of how you get started." In other words, "the same safety gear that is worn with any other wheeled vehicle should also be worn with scooters. Wristguards, in particular, are very important, as well as helmets and elbow pads. Also, the handle bar that is used for steering should be adjusted properly to the child's height because injuries occur when the handlebar is up too high."
Because scooters are such a hot item, Dr. Stein-Albert cautions: "The final word on statistics from injuries remains to be seen." However, she says, "Seat belts are a good analogy. It's a matter of how early parents start to instill good safety habits in their children that will ultimately help prevent injuries." The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that if scooter kids wore the correct protective gear, the injury rate could be cut by 60 percent.
Rarely discussed in most of the recent media coverage of the scooter craze is peer pressure. Karen D'Attilo, school nurse at The Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights, reports that while most of the scooter injuries she's seeing are minor, she is disturbed by the social issues that the current consumer fad has brought up. "What I do see among the kids is a lot of pressure to get scooters whether kids can actually handle them or not. For instance, a lot of kids look uncomfortable coming to school on them, but they have to use them to fit in." The school's official scooter policy puts the obligation on parents to make sure children wear helmets. But while at school, "they are not allowed to ride them anywhere, certainly not in the lobby. There is a proper place for them and as soon as the kids get on school property, they have to fold their scooters up. That's how we've managed it."
Katerina Silverblatt, M.D., a specialist in pediatric and adolescent medicine at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, was ecstatic the day I interviewed her. Earlier that afternoon, the New Jersey State Legislature had passed a law making helmets a mandatory safety item. Seated by the radio and grinning, Dr. Silverblatt thought it was the best news she had heard all day and remarked that it was about time. "The problem with scooters is that they're not children-friendly," she contends. That's the real problem. The parts are very sharp and they're also not stable because the front wheel gets stuck and the kids fly over the handlebars." The worst incident she has seen was a child with a foot laceration, and whose mother wanted to sue the scooter company. Dr. Silverblatt would very much like to see New York State follow New Jersey's lead and enact similar legislative protection as quickly as possible.
There is good news here too, however. Because so many of the dangers caused by scooters have been given media attention as a result of the medical community's concern as well as that of school officials, there is now an increased awareness for safety and concrete legislative measures in progress to protect riders. Don't throw away your children's scooters--just make sure the kids don't leave the house without complete protective gear. If you're like most parents and have trouble getting your children to wear what's good for them, don't despair. Protective helmets and pads are coming out in fashions that are almost as colorful as scooters themselves! Sidebar
Rachael Stark
Reprinted with permission from Big Apple Parent Magazine.
