But a recent USA Today article caught my attention. Those bounce houses are causing more and more injuries. I'm not all that surprised. After all, anytime you have a bunch of really young kids bouncing in a confined area on a cushion of air, accidents are bound to happen.
In part, the article says:
The moonwalks, slides and bounce houses are popular entertainment at young children's birthday parties and carnivals, but the toll they are taking on the young is "epidemic," says lead author Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
In 2010 alone, 30 children a day were treated for these injuries in hospital emergency rooms, the report says. The number of injuries increased to 11,311 in 2010 from 702 in 1995. Falls were the most common cause, followed by stunts and collisions. Smaller kids are a greater risk.
I take my son to Little Monkey Bizness, and they have a large, multi-level bounce house with slides and everything. The biggest threat to my son, in my opinion, is the older kids who don't pay attention to what they're doing. But to be fair, little kids don't pay much attention either.
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| The fun is real, so are the broken bones! |
I'm not one to read an article like this and then not let my DS ever go in a bounce house again. I think it's worth noting and all parents should be a little extra vigilant.
Heck, if we banned all the toys and fun things kids have these days, they wouldn't have any toys or fun things. Getting a little roughed up builds character and is part of being a kid. Damnit, I used to drink water from a dirty hose and jump off the roof of my house, and I turned out fine (though some would beg to differ).
Photo Credit: JollyJump Creative Commons
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