Distracted Parents Cited As Factor For Kids' Playground Injuries

DETROIT (WWJ) - More than 200,000 children are treated for playground-related injuries in U.S. emergency rooms each year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission — and parents may be contributing to those numbers.

Checking your phone or other electronic device at the playground may be convenient, but the distraction could put your kids at risk, reports WWJ's Dr. Deanna Lites.

Research shows a child playing on the playground is three times more likely to engage in risky behavior if their caregiver is using an electronic device.

Some of those behaviors include; running up slides, throwing sand or jumping off moving swings.

"Children are smart and they definitely check to see whether parents are distracted prior to taking that risky behavior so we know they are more likely to take the risk when their parents aren't paying attention to them," said Elaine Schulte, a pediatrician with Cleveland Clinic.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission notes about 45 percent of playground-related injuries are severe–fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations and about 75 percent of nonfatal injuries related to playground equipment occur on public playgrounds. Most occur at schools and daycare centers according to figures from studies in 2001.