Farm-related accidents involving children have long been considered a serious problem in the United States. And school-aged children are most at risk for fatal farm injuries during the summer months. With the assistance of Robert A. Aherin, Extension Safety Specialist at the University of Illinois, we are learning about the general characteristics of children in different age groups that can help us understand the risk potential in a farm environment.

What activities are school-age farm kids most likely involved in during the summer? Is your child developmentally ready to be involved with these activities?

Children ages 7-9

During the elementary school years children begin to recognize common dangers they have personally experienced in the past. For example, after a fall from a tree they may be somewhat more careful in climbing trees in the future. However, they do not easily generalize from one situation to another. This incident may not cause them to avoid climbing on a tractor or a ladder on the side of a grain bin. Children of this age also continue to act before they think, especially when involved in play.

They are beginning to want to be included in the work done by adults. Because they have little knowledge of the requirements of a task or of their own limitations, the risk of injury is very high. They do not recognize dangerous situations fast enough to avoid them, and once in an emergency situation they do not have the problem-solving abilities to avoid injury. Unfortunately, these limitations in their thinking abilities are often not evident until the child experiences an accident.

Children ages 10-15

By the later elementary school years, children are beginning to develop physically. Many are now big enough to take on adult tasks, such as operating farm machinery or mowing the lawn. Because they want to be considered grown-up, they may give parents the impression that they know how to perform the task. They can follow simple operating procedures and are better able to tell parents what they would do if a problem arose. However, many times they are not cognitively able to process information quickly enough to get out of danger.

Strong peer pressure abounds during early adolescence. Kids will often showoff or dare one another around their friends.

Furthermore, they do not believe that anything can happen to them. Within this age group children are normally undergoing significant physical and psychosocial maturation as they move from childhood to adulthood. Young people perceive and assess risk differently than adults. Teen-agers tend to believe that the benefits of risky actions outweigh their costs. This makes teen-agers extremely vulnerable to injuries that result from risk-taking behavior.

In addition, adolescents often regard their thoughts and feelings as unique and sometimes develop feelings of immortality. This sense of immortality, combined with the need for experimentation and peer group pressure, can lead to risk-taking behavior.

For these reasons, children in this age group need to have a good understanding of accident risks around the farm. They also need to be closely supervised when performing a new farm task. Training should be such that they are allowed to develop their skills slowly so they can adapt and thoroughly learn new tasks or new equipment. True, they may get by without experiencing an accident. But they are very vulnerable, particularly in high stress or unusual circumstances that could develop when operating farm equipment.

Farm accidents often occur because the children experience situations they are not capable of handling either physically or cognitively. Consider not only the age of your child, but also his/her developmental stage/maturity and his/her experience when deciding whether your son or daughter should be allowed to operate a particular piece of equipment or to help with a specific task.

Judy Taylor is an Extension Educator, Youth Development at the University of Illinois Springfield Extension Center, P.O. Box 8199, Springfield, IL 62791, (217) 782-6515, taylorj@mail.aces.uiuc.edu.

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