United States

Safe Kids works to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading killer of children ages 14 and under. Six hundred grassroots coalitions and chapters in 49 states bring together health and safety experts, educators, corporations, foundations, governments and volunteers to educate and protect families. Safe Kids was founded in 1987 by Children’s National Medical Center with support from Johnson & Johnson.

Highlights

Walk This Way Facebook Campaign

In September, Safe Kids Walk This Way launched a Facebook campaign to promote Back-to-School safety and International Walk to School Day. Safe Kids gave away 400 International Walk to School Day kits to elementary schools around the country, who were not previously connected with Safe Kids. In return for the kit, schools agreed to promote pedestrian safety and held a Walk to School Day event on October 5. The Facebook campaign will expand the Walk This Way reach by over an estimated 160,000 child participants from previous years.

Each kit contained an educational poster, banner and crossing guard vest as well as 400 tip sheets for parents, 400 reflective slap wrap bracelets for students, and 400 "I Walked to School Today" stickers for students. After International Walk to School Day, participating schools and Safe Kids coalitions entered the photos from their events into a Facebook photo contest. The winner of the photo contest received a visit from Sesame Street's Walkaround Grover and a cash prize for the school.

A Look Inside American Family Vehicles

Safe Kids issued a report, “A Look Inside American Family Vehicles,” which analyzed data from 79,000 car seat checklist forms that were completed by Safe Kids coalitions at community car seat checkup events across the nation during a one year timeframe. 

Caregivers attend car seat checkup events for several reasons: they are expectant parents or grandparents seeking help with the first installation of a car seat; they may have recently purchased a car seat and seek help with a new installation technique; or, they fear they have made a mistake with a seat and want to have it checked to be sure it is safely installed. They come voluntarily and exhibit a high interest in the safety of their children.

The people who attend a Safe Kids checkup event may well be those who have unique characteristics and a special interest in safety, but there were still many opportunities to learn about common mistakes and ways to improve the safety of young occupants.

This was possibly the largest study relative to actual car seat and booster seat use among American families. The study was released in light of Child Passenger Safety Week (CPS) celebrated across the country from September 18-24, to remind parents and caregivers of the need to keep children of all ages properly restrained in the seat that meets their weight and height requirements.