Safety & Injury Prevention

Half of parents of middle- and high-school students report some concussion education. Watching a video or live presentation helps parents feel more confident about managing a concussion. Signing a waiver form, without additional concussion education, is rated by parents as not useful.

Overall, 79% of parents and 85% of grandparents of young kids report having prescription medicine at home. Grandparents are 4 times more likely than parents to keep prescription medicine in easy-access places. About two-thirds of adults overall would support potential new laws that would require medicines to be packaged as single-dose servings. 

9 out of 10 parents believe that placing an infant in a crib on his/her back is a safe sleep position. 7 out of 10 parents report falling asleep with their infants—some intentionally, but most unintentionally. 4 out of 10 parents believe it is safe for infants to sleep in a bed with another person.

73% of parents turned their child forward-facing before their child was two years old. 30% of parents turned their child forward-facing before their child reached one year of age. Parents most often look to car seat packaging and health care providers for information on when to turn their child’s car seat to face forward.

41% of parents have taken their children to a water park in the past year. Only 26% of parents think it’s very important to shower before getting in the water. 28% of parents believe that preventing infections is the sole responsibility of water park staff.

6 in 10 parents of children 2 and under gave their children over-the-counter cough and cold medicine within the last 12 months. About half of parents who use OTC cough and cold medicine report that their young children’s health care providers say these types of medicines are safe and are effective.

Over half of parents who do not own a gun have never talked with their children age 5-17 about gun safety. 1 in 4 parents who do not own a gun are very worried that their children could get hurt with a gun when at a friend’s home.

Only 8% have read or heard a lot about the risks of repeat concussions in school sports. More than 50% do not know if their children’s school has a policy about returning to sports after a concussion. 62% know of a parent who would have his or her child return to school sports too soon after a concussion.

Parents use booster seats for almost all kids 4-5 years old, but for only about one-half of kids 7-8 years old. One-half of parents with kids 4-8 years old don’t know their state law regarding booster seat use.

1 in 4 children age 4-17 never wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. Nearly 1 in 2 children from the lowest income families never wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. Helmet use in places that have child bicycle helmet laws is more than twice as high as helmet use in areas without such laws. Nearly 9 in 10 adults support helmet laws for children.