Thousands of helmets given to second grade students to promote safety
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) -Thousands of bicycle helmets were given away Thursday in hopes of inspiring our kids to practice bike and sports safety.
Second graders from across the Brazos Valley came out to the annual Hard Hats for Little Heads event at Reed Arena. Hard Hats for Little Heads was created by the Texas Medical Association in 1994 to educate children about how to prevent head injuries.
Texas ENT & Allergy, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Texas A&M Athletics and Texas Medical Association, along with supporting sponsors want to encourage child safety.
“Kids need to stay active,” said Dr. Andrew de Jong, a board-certified otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon. “You’ve heard the recent statistics about 1 billion people in our world are obese. We need to stay active but they need to stay in school. We’ve got this opportunity to make a difference, have them stay in school and stay active and stay safe.”
This year’s event included Bryan ISD, College Station ISD, Navasota ISD, Anderson-Shiro ISD, Mumford ISD, Snook ISD, Hearne ISD, Burton ISD, Madisonville ISD, Caldwell ISD, Franklin ISD and Somerville ISD.
Aggie Athletes in sports such as equestrian, softball, baseball and football joined in to discuss the importance of helmet use and safety.
The program, presented locally through the Healthy World Healthy Children Foundation, has impacted more than 44,000 second graders over 16 years.
On average, 250 children in the United States under the age of 14 die each year because of a bicycle crash. Another 300,000 children are treated in emergency rooms for severe head injuries. Many of these accidents could have been prevented if the children had worn bicycle helmets. Helmets can reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent, yet only about 40 percent of cyclists wear one when they ride.
