The last dangers a kid understands

We are all intent at teaching our kids the dangers of electricity, the dangers presented by fire, the dangers of cars. But there are three things that children learn late, not until 8 or 10 years old, so you should pay special attention.

1) protecting their eyes. I see a lot of kids who play with paint guns without protection; their parents do not know this: they play with friends. If I tell the kids to go home and grab some protective glasses, I get answers like: "Oh, if there is paint in my eyes I will just get it off".
Children that age think, despite the evidence of the mirror, that there is always a skin over their eyes because it is what they experience when they rub their eyes or wash their face. So remember the child's brain is not like yours: it does not have a good understanding of the eye-eyelid relationship. Maybe that is a good way to start: make them conscious of the relationship and the reason for it. Closing one's eyes is a reflex, protecting one's eyes has to be learned. It makes it difficult to get across the message that eyes are a specially fragile part of the body. Teach that: teach how to use a saw or a drill and protect their eyes, then talk about paint guns.

2) protect their breathing. The only way we breath is by keeping our nose and mouth free of obstruction. Most of us do not teach that to our kids because there is no reason to in normal circumstances. Well there is no reason for the kids to think about it either, and that brings them to harm when trying stuff out of your watchful eyes. This is why plastic bags have a warning: many kids died while playing with plastic envelopes. I have known a 8 years old who almost died when she tried to hide in a pile a shaff. It is something to teach: it is surprising how late in life children understand this.

3) Protect their nose. Odors can be dangerous. Most children do not know that anything they can smell is made of matter: it is a bunch of molecules. And while all books tell you to keep chemicals out of the reach of children, they never tell you to teach your children how to open a bottle. Chemists always open bottles away from their nose, because some chemicals are harmful. If you want to smell, you start at arms length and bring the bottle closer to your nose. When kids are big enough that you do not have to hide household chemicals any more, it is time to teach them the smell trick with chlorine, diluted ammonia and any harmful thing around the kitchen: always open away from your nose!

4) Protect their eardrums I am stuck here: we are breeding a generation of deaf young people by allowing them to stay in the blaring mode.