Keep Kids off the Grass

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Monmouth County parents take note: the board-certified podiatrists at Affiliated Foot & Ankle Center recommend that you create the following rule: Children must stay inside when the lawn is being mowed. Then, do everything in your power to enforce it.  

Children vs. lawnmowers

Young children and lawnmowers don’t mix. Every year, nearly 10,000 young kids are treated for injuries related to lawnmower accidents, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Some of these injuries are life-threatening. Many of them leave a child permanently disabled without a hand, arm, leg, or foot. These horrific injuries to young kids are completely preventable. Just follow the rule. Children must stay inside when the lawn is being mowed. 

Follow the rule to avoid tragedy

Allowing kids to play outside while someone is mowing the lawn sets them up for these kinds of terrible accidents:

  • The person mowing has no idea there’s a child in the area and backs up the ride-on right into the child

  • A ride-on mower unexpectedly tips over onto a child

  • A child is allowed to sit on a working ride-on mower and falls off directly into the path of the blades

  • Rocks, sticks or other debris fly out of the grass chute and hit a child with great force 

Young kids routinely arrive in hospital emergency rooms with burns, cuts, fractures, severed tendons, and amputated toes or feet from contact with fast-rotating blades.  

Age guidelines for mowing

In addition to keeping kids off the grass, be vigilant about who you allow to operate a lawnmower. The AAP has set some age limits: a child should be at least 12 years old to use a push-style lawnmower and 16 years old to operate a ride-on mower. Make sure your young one understands how to operate the machine safely and responsibly.  

Our podiatrists, Dr. Samantha Boyd, Dr. Hal Ornstein, Dr. Dan Phan, and Dr. Joseph Saka, care about lawnmower safety for you and your kids. Should you suffer an injury to your foot or lower limb, seek emergency care and follow up with us at our podiatry office in Howell or Jackson, New Jersey. Call us at (732) 905-1110 or contact us online.