Meeting of the Parliament 08 June 2016
I am delighted to lead this evening’s debate on child safety week 2016 and I thank my colleagues across the chamber, many of whom are new faces, for their support, which has allowed it to go ahead. I welcome to the public gallery members of the Child Accident Prevention Trust, which promotes child safety week, and other members of the proposed cross-party group on accident prevention and safety awareness.
As well as having many new faces in the chamber, we have a new face in the Presiding Officer’s seat and a new minister to respond to this evening’s debate. I congratulate both Ms Fabiani and Ms Ewing on their appointments. What is not new is that Clare Adamson MSP is on her feet in the Parliament talking about safety issues, but I make no apology for that. I hope that I have the minister’s forbearance for the frequent and many responses that will be demanded of her over the new session of Parliament.
Why such persistence on my part? For me, safety, and especially child safety, is a social justice issue. Unintentional injury is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity throughout life, and for children it remains the leading cause of death. Recent ISD Scotland statistics show that children and adults in the most deprived areas are most likely to have an emergency admission—it is 19 per cent more likely for children and 40 per cent more likely for adults. In addition, the most recent statistics show that one child death in 12 is caused by unintentional injury. That is why I welcome the efforts of the Child Accident Prevention Trust to promote safety awareness in child safety week.
I hope that members will take an opportunity to stop by the CAPT exhibition in the Parliament this week and, if they are very brave, to take the Bitrex challenge. There is a wealth of information in the exhibition about how to support and promote child safety.
The theme of this year’s child safety week—turn off technology—highlights the dangers that arise when parents, carers and young people are distracted by mobile technology or music on earphones. In a recent survey by the Child Accident Prevention Trust, one parent in four admitted that their child has had an accident or near miss while being distracted by using a mobile phone, and more than two thirds of parents—69 per cent—said that they are distracted by their mobile phone, with more than three quarters confessing that they usually check texts and posts as soon as they come in through mobile notification systems.
That is a startling statistic, and we know that such behaviour is rubbing off on children. One in six children and young people suffers an accident or near miss, for example by stepping out into the road without looking, while they are on their mobile phone—and in the London area the proportion rises to almost one in four.
Child safety week will equip families with knowledge about the risk to children of serious accident and about simple steps that they can take to prevent accidents. The Child Accident Prevention Trust is undertaking a number of different events throughout Scotland and visiting nurseries, young people and families to share its message and its toolkit for child accident prevention, which is available on its website.
Many people have commented on the importance of the issue. Dr Clarissa Quinnell, a junior doctor at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Accidents often happen when we’re distracted and mobile phones are increasingly to blame—whether it’s a teenager stepping out into traffic while instant messaging or a baby grabbing at a hot drink or biting into a liquitab while their parent is replying to a text.”
The cross-party group on accident prevention and safety awareness has covered many of the issues. Many professionals know only too well the devastating and life-limiting consequences for young people that accidents can have. For example, a young toddler might instinctively grab hair straighteners, suffering burns that restrict the use of their hand for the rest of their life.
I come to this debate from experience. Dr Quinnell mentioned young people who step out into traffic. In 2006, my 15-year-old niece Mhairi stepped out into traffic around the barrier at a crossing and was killed. I do not know whether she was listening to music or had her mobile phone in her hand, but I know that all the research tells us that teenagers have immature brains and that their approach to risk taking is not developed as an adult’s is, so they are vulnerable in such situations.
That is why, tonight and on every occasion that I can do, I stand up to urge parents and carers to heed the safety messages that come from CAPT and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, which is also represented in the public gallery this evening. I urge people to heed the Government’s great messages about road safety and safety at home. I urge people to heed what trading standards staff, the Electrical Safety Council and all the other people who are expert in the area say, so that we can seek to protect our young people, our children and our families from the devastating effects of unintentional injury.
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