“Don’t be vain, protect your brain!”

20 years working with Hampshire Constabulary taught me many things.  Things which perhaps seemed insignificant to me as a singleton with only myself to look after, yet became very important to me as a parent.  They say once a police officer always a police officer and that’s true to a degree.  When you’ve witnessed horrific injuries or encountered incidents that cause pain and suffering, the last thing you would ever want is to see another person experience the same.  Combine this with parenting and you get someone like me!  Someone who risk assesses every situation, thinks of all the possible outcomes and takes the necessary steps to ensure my children’s safety. Some may joke I’m Captain Safety, some may feel I’m over protective  (I have been told this!) but hey that’s their opinion, and in the grand scheme of things do these people’s opinions matter to me more than the safety of my children?

I can’t begin to explain to you (nor would I wish to) what it is like to see a person with a head injury, let alone a child, with potentially life changing injuries, or worse still a fatality.  In a nutshell, it is horrific, and an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone.  I don’t mind admitting that some of these images didn’t leave my mind for quite a while, and some still haunt me.  Life can change in an instant and at times there was nothing we could have done to prevent it.  Yet other times, preventative measures could have been made.  Seat belts could have been worn, children could have been in car seats, drivers could have left their mobile phones alone, cyclists could have worn helmets……. and so the list goes on.  Lives could possibly have been saved and so it is with thought I ask you, why wouldn’t you take every precautionary measure available to you to ensure the safety of your loved ones?  To those who pass judgement saying we were all fine in our day, nothing happened to us, I agree!  How fortunate we were.  However many were not fortunate, injuries were caused, and parents had to face losing their son or daughter.  We have learnt a lot since then and fatalities have reduced significantly. Charities like RoSPA state that accidents are the biggest threat to you and your family for most your life. A staggering 14,000 people die as a result of accidents in the UK every year and millions are injured. Their mission is to save lives and reduce injuries.

So it is with RoSPA’s mission in mind I have a strict rule that Izzy and Ollie must follow if they wish to play on their bikes, scooters, skateboards, and roller-skates…… they must wear a helmet! No helmet, no action.  To many, a helmet for a bike is a must, but the countless looks I’ve had from other parents when they’ve seen the children wearing helmets whilst on their scooters!  So I’m OTT fair enough but any of the above could cause your child to fall off and heavily impact the ground. I’d far rather a helmet took this impact rather than a head.