School Specific Injuries
More than 53 million children in the United States spend almost one-fourth of their total waking hours in school or on school property. An estimated 10 to 25 percent of the more than 14 million unintentional injuries sustained by children ages 14 and under each year occur in and around schools. Annually, one in 14 students suffers a medically attended or temporarily disabling injury
at
school. Public attention often focuses on school violence.
However, studies indicate that school-age children are nine
times more likely to sustain an unintentional injury than to
be the victim of an intentional injury while at school.
Playgrounds are associated with the majority of injuries
among elementary school students.
Athletics, including both physical education
classes and organized sports, account for the majority
of injuries among secondary school students.SCHOOL DEATHS AND INJURIES
- An estimated 2.2 million children ages 14 and under sustain school-related injuries each year.
- Eighty percent of elementary school students will see a school nurse for an injury-related complaint over a two-year period.
- The most frequent causes of school-related injuries requiring hospitalization are falls (43 percent) and sports activities (34 percent).
- Approximately 715,000 sports- or recreation-related injuries occur in and around schools each year.
- Approximately 13,000 playground equipment-related injuries occur on school playgrounds during school hours.
- In 2002, 26 children ages 14 and under were killed, and in 2001 an estimated 4,500 were injured, in school bus-related incidents. More than 40 percent of these deaths were child pedestrians.
