The University of Michigan study found that TV causes an increased likelihood of children don’t pay as much attention in school, perform worse in math, eat more junk food, live a more sedentary life, are bullied more and have more problems adjusting at school.

The study has confirmed what smaller, less stringent studies have hinted at in the past. The most worrisome finding is that the problems caused by TV persisted even after the age of 7 in the children studied.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends less than two hours of TV per day.

Staying off busy roads is not enough. More than half the 135 children who die in bike-related car accidents are killed on minor roads or in residential areas. They don’t have to – bike helmets reduce the risk of severe brain injury by 88 percent.

Make sure you set a good example for your child. You are a role model whether you like it or not. Your approach cannot be “do as I say, not as I do.” Children are always watching you for what is acceptable behavior.

Use hand signals in traffic and always ride responsibly. Ride on the right side of the road with traffic. Don’t let your child be one of the 75 to 85 percent of children who ride bikes without helmets. Show them that using a helmet is the only way to bicycle.

Even though you may be riding responsibly, sometimes injuries occur due to the fault of others. Helmets significantly reduce your risk of needing a Daytona Beach personal injury lawyer.

It is difficult to do everything well, and this is another example of that reality. These convertible seats purport to “grow with your child” but in the end may do more harm than good. That said, not all convertible seats are dangerous. Parents should consult the Institute’s test results to identify their particular model before discarding it for a new one.

The booster seats that turned out to be dangerous did a poor job of properly placing the shoulder and lap belts in the appropriate places relative to a child’s body. No recalls have been announced yet, but the results were announced only yesterday. If you cannot afford a new seat, remember that even a substandard seat is better than using an adult seatbelt on a child.

The Best Child Booster Seats

• Britax Frontier: model: #E9B54H6

• Clek Oobr: model: #OBM1U

• Combi Dakota backless with clip:  model: #882066

• Cosco Juvenile Pronto, models #22491/#22255/#22275

• Eddie Bauer Auto Booster, models #22888/#22829

• Evenflo Big Kid Amp backless with clip, models #3401913/#340XXXX

• Cosco Juvenile Pronto: models #22491/22255/22275

• Eddie Bauer Auto Booster models #22888/22829

• Evenflo Big Kid Amp backless with clip models: #3401913/340XXXX

• Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR, model #22223-CIP

• Recaro Vivo, model #351.00.MM14

• Recaro Young Sport, model #340.00.MM14

• Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR model #22223-CIP

• Recaro Vivo model #351.00.MM14

• Recaro Young Sport model #340.00.MM14

The Worst Child Booster Seats

• Alpha Omega model: #22469

• Alpha Omega Elite models #22149/22148

• Alpha Omega Luxe Echelon model: #22799

• Combi Kobuk, model #8970

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe, models #22800/#22862/#22865

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1, model #22790/#22795

• Combi Kobuk model #8970

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe models #22800/22862/22865

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1 models #22790/22795

• Evenflo Express, models #3292198/#329XXX

• Evenflo Sightseer, models #2692198/#269XXX

• Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe backless with clip, model #0304001DRM

• Evenflo Express models #3292198/329XXX

• Evenflo Sightseer models #2692198/269XXX

• Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe backless with clip models #0304001DRM/22178/#22177

• Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite, models #22465/#22456/#22195/#22187

• Safety 1st All-in-One models #22178/22177

• Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite models #22465/22456/22195/22187

ANSWER: Under Florida law, there is no specific age at which children become old enough to be held negligent. The rule is that children behavior is tested by what is reasonable under the circumstances, including age, experience and state of mental development of the child.

That is unless the child is doing something that usually only adults do like driving a car or boat or flying an airplane. Then the child is held to a higher standard of behavior – they are required to do the activity with the skill and care of an adult.

If the child is engaged in normal behavior for children, then the question is whether or not the child has the experience, intelligence, maturity, training or capacity to act with the care the situation requires. If so, then the child can be held liable for negligence. If not, then they can’t. That question is one that only a jury can answer. It is not for lawyers or judges to say. The specific facts of each circumstance and each child must be weighed by the jury. Every case is almost always very different.

As for the instructor or facility, the question of whether or not they can be liable for your daughter’s injuries is also a very fact intensive question. If either had a duty to protect your child from injury and breached that duty, they may be held liable. Answering those questions requires further information.

A jury would have to consider it reasonably foreseeable that injury could result from leaving the two girls without supervision. If a jury did decide it was reasonably foreseeable, that jury could find negligence if the instructor told the kids to stretch and then left the room to make a phone call.

However, if the instructor taught the children proper stretching form and watched them while they performed all their stretches, then it’s unlikely a jury would hold the instructor liable for your daughter’s injuries.

The specifics of each case are most often discovered during interviews called depositions where lawyers have an opportunity to question witnesses under oath. One important issue in a case like this is whether or not you as a parent signed a liability waiver. If you waived your right to sue the instructor and facility, then that document is binding.

The Florida Child Injury Lawyer Blog urges you to take simple steps to ensure your safety and the safety of your child in traffic. Driving on Florida’s roads is almost always the most dangerous thing we do each day by a long measure. In the United States alone, car accidents are responsible for one death every 13 minutes.

One simple step can go a long way in reducing traffic fatalities: use proper restraints for you and your child. Using proper child-safety equipment in your car or vehicle can decrease your child’s risk of suffering injury by 80 percent. That bears repeating … 80 percent. Just putting your child into a car seat reduces their risk of injury by 80 percent.

Let’s review the different types of child safety equipment available today for cars, trucks and other vehicles. Different types of safety restraints are appropriate for children of different ages.

For infants younger than one year, their weight determines the appropriate safety seat. If they weigh less than 20 pounds, you should use a rear-facing infant seat. If your child is larger however, in the range of 20-35 pounds, you should use a rear-facing convertible seat instead of a rear-facing infant seat. In either case, be sure to fasten the car seat to your vehicle’s back seat.

If your child is between 35-40 pounds, you can turn them around into a front-facing convertible car seat. Remember though to always fasten this car seat in your back seat, not the front.

Once your child weighs more than 40 pounds, it’s time for a booster seat. Booster seats are typically appropriate from the age of four to eight and should be used until your child is at least 57 inches tall. Once they have grown to that height, they can safely use regular seat belts as adults.

For each of these child safety devices, make sure the seat top is at least one inch above your child’s head. If it is not, head, neck or back injury can result.

Now that you know which type of seat is appropriate for your child, let’s look at proper installation and other common questions:

Proper installation for rear-facing seats

• Strap everything down tightly and securely. Be sure the car seat is strapped to your back seat tightly and that the harness fits your child snugly. If the seat moves more than one inch in any direction, you haven’t installed it securely enough.

• Improperly installed car seats can be just as dangerous as not using one. Never put a rear-facing car seat in your front seat if your front passenger air bag is active. In that position, the air bag will hit the back of the seat where your baby’s head is. Serious injuries and death have resulted from such impacts.

• Check that the car seat does not allow your baby’s head to fall forward. If your car seat did not come with an angle adjustment mechanism, you can change the angle yourself safely by simply inserting a rolled-up towel or something similar under your child’s car seat at the place where your vehicle’s back and bottom meet.

• Still having trouble? There may be a certified Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Technician in your area who can help. Just Google CPS Technician.

Troubleshooting

1) If your baby slides to the side or down in his or her car seat, never pad under your child. Always apply padding around him or her. Don’t use safety inserts unless they are manufacturer approved for that specific car seat.

2) Premature babies should not ride in car seats unless they have been tested to see if they are able.

Proper installation for forward-facing seats

• Again, check that the car seat is strapped into your vehicle tightly and that the harness fits your child snugly. If the car seat can move one inch in any direction, you haven’t secured it well enough.

• Make sure the shoulder straps are at or above your child’s shoulders.

• Check the instructions to be sure you have run the seat belt through the correct path for the seat to face forward. It can be easy to run the seat belt through the path meant for the rear-facing position.

• All vehicles newer than September 2000 have tether straps that run from the top of the car seat to anchor it to your vehicle. Tethers protect you child’s head from moving too far forward in the even of an accident or abrupt stop. If you have an older car, buy a tether kit and install it. Do not use a tether kit meant for a different seat.

Troubleshooting

1) All children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat. If you absolutely must transport more children than can fit (safely) in the back seat, the next best option is to have a child who is in a forward-facing seat ride in the front. If you must do this, move your vehicle seat as far backwards as you can. The goal is to move the seat and the child as far away from the dashboard and air bag as you can.

2) Remember, these safety precautions are simple and should be followed by everyone who drives your child. If your child is driven by someone else (child care or school, etc), they are in the right seat for their age and weight and the seat is installed properly. Ask your day care center to read their written protocol for driving children. Check to see if it includes provisions for driver’s licenses, staff-to-child ratios, and supervision by someone other than the driver.

Proper installation for booster seats

There are only three things you need to do to properly install a booster seat:

• Booster seats require both the lap belt and shoulder belt portions of the seat belt. Never allow a child in a booster seat to wear just the lap belt portion. That exposes him or her to severe head and neck injuries in the event of an accident as there is no restraint to secure the upper body from moving.

• The shoulder belt must cross the center of your child’s chest and shoulder. If the shoulder belt is not in the middle of the chest and shoulder, it can cause internal injuries in a crash.

• The lap belt must be placed across your child’s upper thighs, not his or her belly. Again, if the lap belt is placed across the belly, internal injuries can occur.

Troubleshooting

1) If your car’s back seat has only lap belts and no shoulder belts, you should not use a booster seat. Instead, find a forward-facing car seat that is built for older and larger children. In addition, some travel vests are compatible with lap belts. In some types of vehicles, you can install aftermarket shoulder belts.

2) Manufacturers sell two different types of booster seats: high-back and backless. Use the high-back models if your car does not have a head rest or if your car has low seats. The backless variety are more convenient because they are easier to move from car to car. In addition they are almost always cheaper.

Adult seat belts

Once your children are about 4′ 9″ tall, they can wear adult seat belts. Just be sure the fit as described in the booster seat section above and that children do not put the shoulder belt behind their back. Also, never let children share seat belts.

The study coincides sadly with the child death of a Jacksonville, Florida 4-year-old who was killed yesterday when a television fell on her.

The study was conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and found a 40 percent increase in child injuries caused by furniture falling on children since 1990. The study looked 12 different different kinds of furniture.

Children 6 and younger were found to be at the highest risk for injuries from falling furniture. The most common culprit: the family television.

Children 3 and under were found to be at the highest risk for the most serious injuries. They are more likely to sustain head and neck injuries than older children, who more often sustain lower body injuries from falling furniture.

Researchers report that 25 percent of the injuries were caused by children pulling or climbing on furniture.

Falling furniture causes an average of 14,000 emergency room visits each year for Americans under the age of 17. About 300 of those accidents are fatal.

The study’s senior author said his study probably underestimates the increase in child injuries from falling furniture because the study did not include data on injuries that did not result in hospital visits.

If you want to keep your child safe from this type of injury, taking a few simple steps can go a long way:

* Secure tippable furniture -- bolt it to the floor, strap it to the wall.
* Purchase furniture with wide legs, stable bases and a low center of gravity. Older televisions are very heavy and their wieght is disproportionately placed at the front. Place these front-heavy items on low stands at the back of piece of furniture they sit on.
* Never put anything on top of furnture. Children are naturally curious and will try to climb to get the object.

Some guidance exists for parents to find out if a piece of furniture is safe. ASTM-International has devised voluntary safety standards for furniture to reduce tipping. However, while many pieces of furniture on the market do not comply with the voluntary standard, even those that do comply with the standard have failed tip tests done by the Consumers’ Union.

Tougher standards are forthcoming. However, you should not rely on voluntary safety standards. Check the furniture yourself to see if it tips easily.

Here’s the corresponding video blog:

Childproofing your home is one of the most important aspects of ensuring child safety because parents and children naturally spend quite a bit of time at home.

The trick to childproofing your home is to understand that childproofing will never be 100% effective. Trust but verify, as they say. Trust your childproofing will help but always verify that your child is safe.

That means supervising your child at all times, especially in the kitchen and bathroom and near water. People think that when their baby is in a baby bath seat that the child is safe and being held securely. Well once a month, a parent walks away from a baby in a bath seat that wasn’t securely fastened or otherwise malfunctions and the child drowns.

Childproofing in an important first step, but do not rely exclusively on childproofing.

When childproofing, the best place to start is on all fours. Literally get down there and crawl around your house. That’s the best way to find the dangers that face a child. Crawl around every room taking note of what is in reach from the floor to about 40 inches above. Also check carpets where pins or coins can be hidden.

The Kitchen:

To keep dangerously hot substances out of reach, use the back burners on the stove and turn pot handles toward the back of the stove.

Keep anything made of glass, anything sharp, and appliance cords away from the edge of counters and tables where children can reach them.

The bathroom:

Do not allow your hot water heater to heat water to more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Your child can suffer third degree burns in just three seconds from water that is 140 degrees F.

Install locks on medicine cabinets. Even seemingly harmless items like mouthwash can be dangerous for a young child.

Request your medicines come in child-resistant packaging. But keep in mind that child-resistant is not childproof. Lock medicines in locked medicine cabinets.

Remove sharp objects from a child’s bathroom. Razors, scissors and blow dryers have no place in a child’s bathroom and should be kept in your bedroom or bathroom, locked and out of children’s reach.

The Bedroom:

Be wary of old cribs. They don’t make ‘em like the used to – for a reason. Safety standards have improved so much that furniture built even a decade ago might have some of the sharp edges, wide slats and corner post protrusions that today’s safety standards prohibit as potentially deadly.

Always lock your blinds whether they are up or down. If not locked, the inner cords will have enough slack for infants and toddlers to pull them around their necks and strangle. Window blinds sold after November 2000 have attachments that prevent this from happening.

If you have older blinds and want to modify them yourself, visit the Window Covering Safety Council where you’ll find easy-to-unerstand pictures and instructions for installing safety devices to make your window cords safe.  Free safety kits are also available.

Around the house:

Frayed electrical wires or flammable materials near heat sources are fire hazards. Maintain smoke alarms in every bedroom and on every floor. Check the fire alarms when you and your child sleep away from home.

Even a small amount of carbon monoxide can kill a small child. Put carbon monoxide detectors in every sleeping area and maintain their batteries.

Falling down stairs can be especially dangerous. Stair gates can help prevent such injuries. Don’t forget to use them at the both top and bottom of stairs.

Install covers over all electric outlets.

For emergencies:

Keep emergency numbers in easily findable and readable places near telephones. Include phone numbers such as the poison control center, pediatrician and a neighbor by every telephone. Also, post your address in large, obvious print so that guests, parents, caregivers, and children can rely that information without thinking to emergency personel.

Maintain a current, fresh first-aid kit.

Not surprisingly, the injury risks children are exposed to change as the grow up, but this study is the first to analyze the link between child development and child safety. The study uses its findings to promote a blueprint that parents can use to provide the age-appropriate safety environments for their children as they grow.

Parents don’t need to be told that child safety is important, but they may not know how prevalent child injuries can be. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 6 million children under 14 were injured in accidents in 2007 that required emergency room care. That breaks down to 12 injuries every minute — all accidental and all probably preventable.

The report, “Raising Safe Kids: One Stage at a Time,” divides children into four age categories  and provides safety tips for the five most common injury risks to children: bicycle-related injuries, motor vehicle occupancy injuries, poisonings, falls, fire and burns.

Safety tips

Infants (up to 1 year)

Always use a rear-facing car seat that you can put into a semi-reclined position. Do this until your baby is at least age 1 and 20 pounds.  If the seat you purchase has higher height and weight limits, use it as long as your baby’s height and weight remains less than the limit.

Overmedicating is one of the common injuries to infants. Read all medicine labels carefully so you don’t miss anything and follow the directions precisely.

We admittedly live in a busy world and parents especially feel a strain on their time. Though you often have many tasks to complete each day, do not hold your baby while you are cooking or carrying hot liquids and foods.

Children 1 to 4 years old

Take your child to play only at safe places. Playgrounds should have soft surfaces that will cushion a child’s fall. Look for playgrounds equipped with safe surfaces that are 1 foot deep. Safe surfaces include fine sand, shredded rubber, or hardwood fiber/mulch below the equipment.

Children are naturally curious and like to explore. Set up your home to make their exploration safe. Install stair gates to prevent your child from falling down your stairs. Also identify any unsteady furniture that may tip over on them as the grab it and secure it to a wall.

Keep medicines and poisonous household items locked up and out of reach. Also, choose products with child-resistant packaging.

Children 5- to 9-years-old

Bicycle accidents are one of the most common causes of accidental child injuries. Ensure that your children wear a helmet and protective equipment every time they are on any kind of wheels – be it a bicycle, skateboard or rollerblades.

At this age, children are at a higher risk than adults for cooking injuries and scalding injuries. Don’t let them use the microwave until they are tall enough to reach the items in it safely. Don’t let them cook with any device unless they understand that steam can burn them.

Traffic accidents are a common cause of injury for everyone. Children are not exempt, and they require special considerations. Continue using booster seats with the vehicle lap and shoulder safety belts until the seat belt fits them correctly.

Early adolescents (10- to 14-years-old)

Wheels remain a top contributor to child injuries in this age group. However, it may be more difficult to ensure your children wear the proper protective equipment as they enter these early adolescent years. Make it non-negotiable. It’s critical to lead by example.

As children grow out of their car booster seat, teach them about the importance of always wearing their seatbelt. if you make it a habit, they’ll feel “naked” without it.