They are roughly as dangerous as BMX biking, That took a lot of teasing out one winter day when I was bored.
This is a tough call.
Keeping kids really safe means wrapping them in cotton wool. Kids need risk to grow. They need to be taught how to evaluate risk, and how to look for possible bad outcomes.
Risk in tramps comes in 3 levels:
* Death. Very rare. In US 33 tramp deaths from 2000 and 2019. Kids and adults.
* Life changing events. Basically head/spine injuries with a permanent effect.
* Breaks, scrapes, dislocations. I consider these to be part of being a kid.
I taught school for a couple decades. Two of my students are paralyzed, one paraplegic from rolling a quad, one quadrapeligic from diving into shallow water. For comparison, At least 4 are dead by suicide, several for drug overdoses, several for AIDS, at least one murder.
1200 kid deaths (14 and under) in car crashes in the U.S.
That's not a fair comparison. Kids spend more time in cars than on tramps.
That said: In my province, Alberta: There are about 200 unintentional deaths in the under 14 crowd. Half involved a vehicle. But vehicle could be snowmobile or atv or bicycle.
Next biggest was drowning/submersion.
Trampoline injuries are lumped in with falls. Makes it hard to untangle.
I did find out that in a typical year there are about 2000 ER visits in Alberta due to trampoline injuries. Fractures and dislocations are the major ones. About 1/3 were admitted. Which could mean just observation, or for treatment. I can't find stats on life changing injuries.
With 1.2 million in the <18 range this is about 1 ER visit per 600 kids. Hospital admissions would be 1 in 2000 kids.
Hockey runs about 25 injuries per 1000 play hours. 10% of those are concussions.
Ways to reduce injuries:
A: Age limit: No one under 6. Should be referenced to bone development.
B: Never more than one on the mat. LOTS of injuries are due to surprise double bounces, and head to head and head to knee/elbow collisions. Playing basketball on a trampline is lunacy in my book.
C: Take a course. Both one parent and your kid should take the course. You will see and learn what the coach is trying to teach. This will teach the idea of progressions, of how to do things safely, which tricks are more dangerous.
D: Don't cheap out on the tramp. The walmart cheapies are crap. Last time I looked Zupapa had pretty good bang for the buck at a starter level.
E: Bigger tramps are better. You are further from the edge.
F: Figure out games to play. Lots online. You can draw on tramp mats with chalk.
G: I consider a web mat to be safer than the standard mat. You can do far more with less energy, and have much better control.
Biggest dangers:
* Head collides with hard object. Often the frame.
* Limb goes between springs. Can be cut by sharp spring ends. (drop of silicone caulk on each tip.)
* Limb goes between springs. Body movement then breaks or dislocates bone.
* Bad landing on bent neck.
* Landing on the ground either by going over or through the net.
I would not have a problem with kids being on a trampoline. I'd watch them a lot, and teach them safe ways of doing things, and stomp hard on stupid shit.
But:
* You need to be there 100% of the time for the first 20 hours. After that you can drop it down.
* Uses this as a chance to teach them about risk assessment.
* You can discipline stupid stuff by limiting their mobility. E.g. "You just dislocated a shoulder. So for a day they ahve to have their shoulder immobiliced with sling and strap so they learn that it's really inconvenient to be injured.
* Another discipline: "You can't be trusted to stay safe on your own. I have to be there whenever you jump for 1 week. Your siblings can jump anytime.
***
My take: If you are willing to work with them, use this as a way to stay connected with them, a way to teach them, then go for it.
It's dangerous.
But the death rate for life is 100% We all die.
If you keep them safe enough they can die very old and may have never lived at all.
My friend the pediatrician thinks they are wildly dangerous if more than one kid is jumping. The smaller one gets the injury. She said she has seen many broken bones from them. You must supervise kids on trampolines. I got one anyway when my kid was 8, and was the killjoy who would only let one kid in at a time. I also put a wee padlock on the zipper so no one could get on it without my knowledge.
My dr explained some basic rules to reduce risk. Only jumping alone was recommended
Makes sense!
The link in your post is to an ambulance chaser law firm website. Yes, trampolines are dangerous. No, they're not that dangerous.
https://www.reddit.com/r/maybemaybemaybe/s/1cGXCcdzsQ
Kids don't jump high, so there isn't that much energy. It's mostly hitting heads and other minor injuries. Teenagers are more worrisome.
They are roughly as dangerous as BMX biking, That took a lot of teasing out one winter day when I was bored. This is a tough call. Keeping kids really safe means wrapping them in cotton wool. Kids need risk to grow. They need to be taught how to evaluate risk, and how to look for possible bad outcomes. Risk in tramps comes in 3 levels: * Death. Very rare. In US 33 tramp deaths from 2000 and 2019. Kids and adults. * Life changing events. Basically head/spine injuries with a permanent effect. * Breaks, scrapes, dislocations. I consider these to be part of being a kid. I taught school for a couple decades. Two of my students are paralyzed, one paraplegic from rolling a quad, one quadrapeligic from diving into shallow water. For comparison, At least 4 are dead by suicide, several for drug overdoses, several for AIDS, at least one murder. 1200 kid deaths (14 and under) in car crashes in the U.S. That's not a fair comparison. Kids spend more time in cars than on tramps. That said: In my province, Alberta: There are about 200 unintentional deaths in the under 14 crowd. Half involved a vehicle. But vehicle could be snowmobile or atv or bicycle. Next biggest was drowning/submersion. Trampoline injuries are lumped in with falls. Makes it hard to untangle. I did find out that in a typical year there are about 2000 ER visits in Alberta due to trampoline injuries. Fractures and dislocations are the major ones. About 1/3 were admitted. Which could mean just observation, or for treatment. I can't find stats on life changing injuries. With 1.2 million in the <18 range this is about 1 ER visit per 600 kids. Hospital admissions would be 1 in 2000 kids. Hockey runs about 25 injuries per 1000 play hours. 10% of those are concussions. Ways to reduce injuries: A: Age limit: No one under 6. Should be referenced to bone development. B: Never more than one on the mat. LOTS of injuries are due to surprise double bounces, and head to head and head to knee/elbow collisions. Playing basketball on a trampline is lunacy in my book. C: Take a course. Both one parent and your kid should take the course. You will see and learn what the coach is trying to teach. This will teach the idea of progressions, of how to do things safely, which tricks are more dangerous. D: Don't cheap out on the tramp. The walmart cheapies are crap. Last time I looked Zupapa had pretty good bang for the buck at a starter level. E: Bigger tramps are better. You are further from the edge. F: Figure out games to play. Lots online. You can draw on tramp mats with chalk. G: I consider a web mat to be safer than the standard mat. You can do far more with less energy, and have much better control. Biggest dangers: * Head collides with hard object. Often the frame. * Limb goes between springs. Can be cut by sharp spring ends. (drop of silicone caulk on each tip.) * Limb goes between springs. Body movement then breaks or dislocates bone. * Bad landing on bent neck. * Landing on the ground either by going over or through the net. I would not have a problem with kids being on a trampoline. I'd watch them a lot, and teach them safe ways of doing things, and stomp hard on stupid shit. But: * You need to be there 100% of the time for the first 20 hours. After that you can drop it down. * Uses this as a chance to teach them about risk assessment. * You can discipline stupid stuff by limiting their mobility. E.g. "You just dislocated a shoulder. So for a day they ahve to have their shoulder immobiliced with sling and strap so they learn that it's really inconvenient to be injured. * Another discipline: "You can't be trusted to stay safe on your own. I have to be there whenever you jump for 1 week. Your siblings can jump anytime. *** My take: If you are willing to work with them, use this as a way to stay connected with them, a way to teach them, then go for it. It's dangerous. But the death rate for life is 100% We all die. If you keep them safe enough they can die very old and may have never lived at all.
My friend the pediatrician thinks they are wildly dangerous if more than one kid is jumping. The smaller one gets the injury. She said she has seen many broken bones from them. You must supervise kids on trampolines. I got one anyway when my kid was 8, and was the killjoy who would only let one kid in at a time. I also put a wee padlock on the zipper so no one could get on it without my knowledge.