Children and fireworks: you need to know this | kek mama

“Everyone who goes outside around the turn of the year should put on fireworks glasses,” Laura Raimondo, spokesperson for the Eye Fund previously told Kek Mama.

Bystander

“Because people underestimate how severe eye damage from fireworks can be,” she continued. “I once spoke to a boy who, when he walked out for a while to unpack something from the car, got a baby arrow in his eye. He had to be treated no less than a hundred times in the hospital. So you are not only at risk if you use fireworks yourself. stand out: more than half of the victims are bystanders.” There is a fireworks ban this year, but so-called joke and banter fireworks, such as ground flowers, stars and pull strings, are allowed. Still, the Burns Foundation warns that these ‘children’s fireworks’ are not as harmless as they seem. It regularly causes severe burns. A TikTok challenge, in which children are encouraged to stamp on burning fireworks, has already injured several children.

Read also
Got late? 10 ways to combine child and hangover >

Risk group

According to Raimondo, there is still a lot to gain from teenagers when it comes to safe use of fireworks: they don’t think fireworks glasses are cool, they want to impress their friends and, in years when New Year’s Eve fireworks are allowed, they do not adhere to the agreed lighting times. Raimondo: “These young people are the biggest risk group and we have to focus on that.”

Tips to keep it safe

Large ornamental and bang fireworks are not allowed, but to make the use of ‘children’s fireworks’ as safe as possible, Raimondo has a few more tips:

1. Eye injuries affect young and old, so don’t just give your child fireworks glasses, but put one on yourself.
2. Be there when your child goes outside or sets off fireworks. Not only during, but also the day after the New Year. Because even then there are still many victims.
3. Explain to children what the dangers of fireworks or children’s fireworks (may be lit from the age of 12) are, so that they understand it themselves. You only get two eyes: be careful with that.
4. Remove the hood from the jacket or fold it inwards. Tuck trouser legs into the shoes or over the boots, so that fireworks don’t get into the clothing.

More Kek Mama? Follow us on Facebook >