By age 6, children display increasing independence and begin to try to prove their maturity. Parents can take advantage of these developments by allowing their children to have a more active role in implementing safety measures. For example, families can work together to plan and practice a fire escape safety route. Children should also be encouraged to explore life on their own, but within limits. For example, children may be allowed to ride their bicycle on their own to a nearby friend’s house during the day, but are still too young to ride alone before dawn or after dusk.

A child’s growing independence can also create some additional risks as children begin to overestimate their maturity level. At age 6, children still are not proficient at judging sound or distance, or in determining the speed of a moving car.

Between the ages of 8 and 10 years, children become much more independent and look to peers for approval. They may even begin to rebel against the rules established by parents and to engage in more daring behavior. Parents are urged to show that they remain in control of setting the child’s boundaries. While parents cannot completely prevent their children from behaving in certain ways, they are urged to continue to stress the need for safety, and to establish consequences for failing to follow such rules.

Parents are urged to encourage their children to take steps to lower the risk of sport-related injuries. These include stretching and warming up before activity, eating a healthy diet that can strengthen muscle tissue and support bone growth, and getting plenty of rest. In addition, it is essential that children wear all protective equipment, such as proper footwear, shoulder pads, shin pads, mouth guards and helmets for any sport. Parents and coaches also should ensure that the child drinks enough fluids, especially when participating in sports outdoors or on a hot day.