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Be very, very afraid, kids -- of sports

Top three safety risks * No. 1 Sports accidents on and off campus * No. 2 Playtime on campus * No. 3 Uneven campus pavements Source: ministry of education

It seems that what scares children and what hurts them are not really the same thing.

To mark Child Safety Day, the Jing-Chuan Children's Safety Cultural Foundation yesterday announced the results of its annual survey on the top 10 dangers to elementary students.

The survey showed that the No. 1 fear for elementary students is catching a disease, such as SARS, from other students. The second-and third-greatest fears were falling down steps at school and being hurt or killed by strangers.

But the foundation discovered that the incidence of less frequently cited dangers such as sports injuries was far greater than the survey gave credit.

The three most frequent threats to the physical health of students are in fact sports accidents inside and outside of school, injuries incurred during playtime and injuries from uneven ground in the schoolyard.

dangerous sports

The foundation then compared Ministry of Education statistics from 2002 and last year, in which the most frequent cause of death and injury to elementary school students was related to sports and recreation, with its own survey results.

The foundation concluded from the comparison that children had an unrealistic view of the dangers in the schoolyard and did not pay enough attention to more realistic threats, foundation representatives said.

"Many of the most frequent threats to the safety of children are easily prevented through improving school facilities and increasing personal awareness. Both families and schools need to pay more attention to these easily ignored but commonly occurring situations, and not just other heavily publicized dangers, such as SARS," foundation executive director Lin Yueh-chin (林月琴) said.

suffocation

Citing the death of six-year-old Chang Ya-wen (張雅雯) in Taichung on Wednesday, the foundation said that it was more important than ever that everyone pay more attention to safety standards and procedures.

Chang suffocated after being locked in a school bus. Her body was discovered six hours after being left behind.

The foundation focuses on safety measures for children and related legislation and was established in 1993 after 23 students and parents were killed in a bus accident.

The survey was conducted from April 26 to May 7 and polled elementary students from third grade to fifth grade. The poll included 1,777 respondents from elementary schools throughout the country.
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