Young parents
Investigating home safety among young parents
Half a million under-fives visit A&E in the UK each year after suffering an accident at home
New research has been published on attitudes to home safety among teenage parents. Entitled "Investigating home safety amongst young parents", it aimed to gain an insight into how safety messages could be better tailored to meet the needs of this group.
The study is the brainchild of Zahida Begum, a young advocate who worked at RoSPA through the Changemakers Foundation’s Future Leaders programme.
Drawing on her experiences as the youngest in a large family, and her time spent with her siblings’ children, 20-year-old Zahida is trying to find ways of raising young parents’ awareness of child safety issues within the home.
The research made the following recommendations:
- Increase media coverage of home safety messages via channels that will reach teenagers and young people, such as social networking
- Implement mandatory sessions in secondary education targeting 14-16-year-olds that focus on child and home safety
- Encourage young parents to design useful gadgets containing safety messages, such as fridge magnets
- Include information about available safety equipment in the Bounty pack that pregnant women receive
- Introduce an automated text message service providing information and advice about home safety issues
- Train young parents to spread safety messages, training and information to their peers