Today I read an article about a mother who shook (and killed) her 3-month old baby for crying while she was playing a game on Facebook. This coming after I taught a lesson on Shaken Baby Syndrome to a class of 5th graders on Tuesday... It might sound odd to teach something so simple as "never shake a baby" to children (who will later become parents, mind you), because isn't it obvious or shouldn't their parents teach them? But this story clearly demonstrates the need for more education around infant safety. And if we don't teach our children, when will they learn?
The lesson I taught this week required me to use an egg and a glass jar to show the effect of shaking on an infant brain. Imagine that the yolk of the egg is like a brain and the egg white, brain fluid. If you bounce the jar gently up and down (like many parents do to calm their babies), the yolk stays in tact. However, if you shake the jar sharply, the yolk splatters. It's scrambled. Now, imagine that is your baby's brain. Or your niece's brain. Or your grandson's brain...
My "smile on" today?
Thank you to my instructors for giving me the skills to teach kids about infant safety. I feel hopeful that I'm helping to educate the next generation of parents.
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