Parachute Safe Kids Week Resources

Parachute’s Safe Kids Week, May 4-10, is an annual public awareness campaign designed to raise awareness about the frequency and severity of preventable childhood injuries, the leading cause of death and disability of Canadian children. The focus of this year’s Safe Kids Week is cycling safety.

The four key messages are:

  • Protect Your Head, Wear a Helmet: Head injuries are the number one cause of serious injury and death to kids on bicycles. A head injury can permanently change the way a child walks, talks, plays and thinks. A properly fitted and correctly worn bike helmet can make a dramatic difference, cutting the risk of serious head injury by up to 80%.
  • Check Your Ride: For kids and families, a fun, safe cycling experience starts with a properly equipped bicycle. Ensure bikes are adjusted to the recommended height for the rider. Be sure to inflate tires and always check brakes are working properly.
  • Be Prepared: Get trained in bicycle safety and rules of the road. Use appropriate hand signals and respect traffic signals, stopping at all stop signs and stoplights.
  • Pick Family Friendly Routes: Protect young riders by using designated areas for riding when available.

Materials available from Parachute include:

  • Downloadable key messages backgrounder, a social media guide with recommended hashtags
  • A Cycling Legislation Chart 2015, comparing bike helmet legislation by province
  • The Child Safety Good Practice Guide (cycling information on page 11) presents evidence and implementation suggestions using the ‘3 E’s’ approach - education, enforcement and engineering- to injury prevention. The guide suggests that it is possible that children under 10 years may not be able to master the cognitive and motor skills necessary for the complex task of riding a bicycle on the road.
  • 5 downloadable jpg images to share on your social channels
  • 4 downloadable 8.5 x 11 posters
  • 3 downloadable pdf bookmark/postcard images
  • 3 Event Guides to help you organize events in your community to draw attention to Safe Kids Week and cycling and road safety;
    • Bike Ride and Safety Clinic
    • Have a Word With Yourself Helmet Campaign
    • Bike Helmet Flash Mob
    • A Media Release Template
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