HS parents presentation

jess71903

Ambassador

• Apr 28, 2010

• #1

A friend of mine does these mentoring meetings for high school parents. They meet once or twice a month and talk about topics pertaining to parenting and specifically teen parenting.

She has asked me to come tomorrow to do a car seat presentation for the group (which I think is only 1 couple at this time). I asked her if it would work for them for me to do a check for their seat(s) in their vehicle(s) and just add to it as we had time. If that doesn't work out, I have asked her to bring her infant seat for me and I will use DD as a demo for proper use. It's a pretty informal environment, so I plan to just sit and talk to them. Anything specifically you can think of that I need to include? I have some of the USAA booklets that I will take (with my highlights and notes ). Any other printed material?

 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Apr 28, 2010

• #2

Safety Belt Safe has some great printables that emphasize proper seat choice for every age, including pushing RF to at least 2 and 30 HARD.

 

jess71903

Ambassador

• Apr 28, 2010

• #3

Why have I never looked at those??? Awesome! I printed the RF one and the "What safety seat is 'the best' for my child." Exactly what I was looking for!

 

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member

• Apr 28, 2010

• #4

And, we are talking teens here? It really needs to be reiterated for them that seatbelts save lives. They need to know that they also need to wear their belts in order to keep their child as safe as possible, kwim?

My dh used to do high school talks way back when (and the included the parents a lot). He would tell the person not believing that a seat belt was worth it to run at the wall, and then put their arms out to stop. Most stopped and realized that the arms would be hurt, etc, but there were a few that pushed it. They ended up hurting themselves thinking they could help protect themselves in a crash ( and this was just them running into a wall, not really in a crash).

 

CTPDMom

Ambassador - CPS Technician

• Apr 28, 2010

• #5

Any chance you can access a laptop and a powerpoint projector? (The HS might have these.)

If you can, download some YouTube videos. The one with the unrestrained guy who goes flying all over the car, and specifically into the backseat would have a big impact on teens. And the crash test videos, rf and ff, are also very powerful. Perhaps even Joel's story, I think there's a video on that as well.

 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Apr 28, 2010

• #6

I was just going to suggest the same thing. It's an excellent idea to make the point that EVERYONE who rides in the car must be buckled properly, or the baby and driver and other passengers are all at risk.

 

B

babyherder

Well-known member

• Apr 28, 2010

• #7

I agree with vidoes. Videos tend to make a large impact on teenagers.

 

CommMom

Senior Community Member

• Apr 28, 2010

• #8

I'd probably also include a section on how to respond to people who battle them on car seat choices/make fun of them/etc. (In my area of study, we call it "teaching resistance skills".) They need help knowing what answers to give, especially given that they are often so heavily pressured to give in to others that they're trying to please.

 

CTPDMom

Ambassador - CPS Technician

• Apr 28, 2010

• #9

I'm home now...I uploaded the unrestrained one on Photobucket...if you can use it and want me to e-mail it let me know...

http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o3/CEFitch/?action=view&current=buckleup.flv

 

xxluckychicxx

New member

• Apr 28, 2010

• #10

I agree with teaching "defense" skills. As a young parent we are pressured non stop about what we should and shouldnt be doing. BTDT. Older parents can "get away" with doing non-mainstream stuff, but teen parents are constantly questioned and made to think we're a bunch of blooming idiots (yes, some are...)

I was also going to suggest youtube videos. I know that's what changed my mind about FFing DS (although I did always have correct usage, minus a few aftermarket products here and there).

 

jess71903

Ambassador

• Apr 28, 2010

• #11

Thanks so much for all of the ideas! I haven't heard back from my friend yet. If we do the actual check I may not have time (30 minutes total) but if we just do the meeting in their little meeting room, I'll take my laptop and show some videos.

I often forget about stressing that the parents and other passengers buckle, but that's a very good point. Thanks!

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• Apr 29, 2010

• #12

This is a good age to hit them with ERF and ExH. A great ERF visual is a water balloon/egg toss. Explain to the kids that a RF seat cups the baby the way you would catch an egg to prevent breakage.

 

TheQueenMother

New member

• Apr 29, 2010

• #13

I did a presentation for home ec last week. I covered the benefits of rear facing, internal decapitation, the no coats/snowsuits due to compression.
I also taught the formula for crash forces. Mass X Velocity = force. I had one football player who was holding one of my practice dolls and I asked him if he thought he could hold Henry in the event of a crash. Then we figured Henry's weight at different speeds. Then we figured the football players weight in a 10 mph crash and a 60mph crash. That made a huge impact.
Then I divided the classes into groups and took them outside to install seats. I had given specific criteria (no more than 1 inch of movement on the belt path, harness tightness, etc) and the groups worked hard until they all installed correctly with both seatbelt and latch.
Hope this helps,
Amanda

 

my2kidsSafe

New member

• Apr 29, 2010

• #14

Another thing i would do is show them how to properly install a car-seat. Both with the base and without. I have 2 teen cousins with babies. They both don't own cars, so they are constantly reinstalling their seats in different vehicles. I have taught them how to do it correctly, after i noticed them doing it wrong once.

 

W

Wiggles

New member

• Apr 29, 2010

• #15

If you've got a convertible carseat in your car, I'd at least SHOW THEM how it goes in both rear and forward facing. That way, if they don't ever get to a seat check again, they at least have a clue. I'd be tempted to spend 10 minutes at the beginning of your session with some videos and then go out to the car, to make sure you've made a really good impact. Even just the 30 second rear vs. forward facing videos would make something of an impact.

 

jess71903

Ambassador

• Apr 29, 2010

• #16

All very good ideas. If this is the same couple from last semester, their baby may be nearing a year and could be in a convertible by now. Last time, I didn't realize it was only a 30 minute time slot and showed up with DS (who was slowly using his walker) and an infant seat by myself. Imade it to them at 12:15, so I had to shoot off some basics and then the bell rang.

Because of where I'm sure their baby is age-wise, I'm definitely going to show the RF vs. FF crash tests if nothing else.