Can Preschoolers Really Pick Door Locks or Is this Hype?
How is it possible that a preschooler can figure out how to pick a door lock and “escape” without the parent knowing?
There always seems to be news of yet another tragic story of a preschooler who was found dead in the family backyard pool or otherwise went missing and was eventually found dead in a river or never found at all.
In one story about a backyard pool, the preschooler “wandered” outside while the mother slept.
The story generated a lot of comments. Most focused on the following issues:
1 Professional burglars use special tools to get into houses.
2 How is it that preschoolers and especially toddlers are able to get past a door that’s locked from the inside?
How Very Young Children Get Past a Locking Mechanism
• The door lock is within the young child’s reach, and he already knows how to unlock it from watching his parents. The lever is loose enough to be flipped by a preschooler’s hands.
• If the door lock is beyond the child’s reach, the child is able to get a lightweight chair or stool beneath the lock and climb up.
• If the lock requires a key, the preschooler knows where the key is and knows how to use it after observing adults using it.
• The door is unlocked to begin with!
• The door has no alarm that sounds when it dislodges from its frame.
You can clearly see that under these circumstances it’s frightfully easy for even a two-year-old to get “past a locked door.”
Master Escape Artist vs. Careless Parents
A child is not an escape artist if her mother’s purse is in plain view on the kitchen table, and the adventurous four-year-old knows “the key” is inside.
These children are not mini-Houdinis. They are simply finding the weaknesses in a flawed system.
In the case of many pool drowning deaths, there are various points along the way, leading up to the drowning, at which security checks would have prevented the drowning.
• Door lock out of reach of child. No lightweight furniture nearby to use as climbing tools.
• Key’s hiding place not known to child or on parent’s person at all times.
• High-end door alarm that no preschooler is smart enough to deactivate; sounds when door opens.
• Gate access to pool; gate locked.
• Pool covered when not in use.
Once the preschool child is outside, there are numerous possibilities for tragedy, such as:
• Abduction.
• Hit by car after wandering away.
• Drowns in neighborhood lake.
• Drowns in neighbor’s pool.
• Drowns in their own pool.
• Gets into family car (that’s unlocked) and manages to roll it into the street and gets hit.
• Dog attack.
• Fall into sewer hole.
Tips for Preventing a Very Young Child from Getting Past Locked Doors
• If you had to unlock a gate for the service workers, relock it after they leave.
• Don’t assume spouse turned on the alarm system. Check it after he leaves, even if this means interrupting your sleep.
• When you’re home, keep doors locked.
Lastly, get a formal security system. Security companies want your business. They have security systems for all budgets.
Failure of Imagination
“The 9/11 Commission cited the main failure of the Administration at the time in regards to preventing the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was ‘failure of imagination,’” says Robert Siciliano, CEO of Safr.Me.com and an expert in fraud prevention and personal safety.
When the young men who eventually were part of the 9-11 attacks were taking flight simulation training, they showed NO interest in learning how to safely land a plane.
Instructors didn’t imagine hard enough what this might mean, because nobody took proactive action about this highly suspicious phenomenon.
Siciliano continues, “Basically the parents’ failure to essentially imagine or determine all the ways in which a child could ‘escape’ failed.”
An alarm system that lets off a siren when a door or window is cracked open will solve the problem.
For people who live in apartments and don’t have much money, again, home security companies have deals for lower-income parents.
Besides, these tragedies often strike parents who have plenty of money. In one pool drowning case, the home had been purchased for $900,000.
“Corrective action is generally taken on use of 20/20 hindsight, which is reactive,” says Siciliano.
“Being proactive means making a concerted effort to imagine all of the possibilities in putting systems in place.”
All the Possibilities…
• Lock doors
• Lock windows
That’s two possibilities. Once the preschooler gets past either one, then YES, there are so many possibilities, save for being abducted by an extraterrestrial.
Alarm and lock systems are only as good as a parent’s ability to remember to keep them activated.
Robert Siciliano is a private investigator fiercely committed to informing, educating and empowering people to protect themselves and their loved-ones from violence and crime — both in their physical and virtual interactions.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
12 Items You’ll Need in the House After Total Knee Replacement
Here’s 12 things you’ll need around the house once you return home after a total knee replacement surgery.
These items should be purchased beforehand.
Even the most prepared-thinking person may not consider the usefulness of some of these items.
My father has had three total knee replacements (one a revision surgery), so I definitely know all the things that should already be in the home, once the patient returns.
The new knee will not be able to bend well. Hopping and balancing on the good leg is not an option because:
1) If a person’s knee was bad enough to require knee replacement surgery, the odds are pretty strong that the other knee is also degenerated.
2) Even if the other leg IS good enough to hop on, this is not advised because it will interfere with recovery.
The person must use both legs as he normally would, so that the new knee is properly introduced to normal movement.
12 Household Items You Need After Knee Replacement Surgery
1 Walker and a 4-pronged cane
2 Comfortable gloves to wear while using the walker, since palm pressure on the device can irritate bare skin.
3 Toilet seat extension
Because the knee can’t bend much, the patient won’t be able to sink down far enough to sit on a regular toilet seat.
Furthermore, the deep position will make it impossible or difficult for the person to get back up into his walker (which he will be needing to move even a few feet).
4 Sturdy seat with handles on either side, that must be at least 20 inches off the floor
This seat should be in the bathroom to allow the patient to sit and do things such as remove/put on shoes/slippers, remove/put on socks (and surgical stockings), remove/put on clothes, and sit while showering.
A similar seat should be in the bedroom. From this seat, the patient grips the handles and rises high enough to then grip the walker and steady himself.
5 A bell or whistle
The patient will often need unexpected assistance and will have to signal for help, and hollering is not always a viable option.
A whistle around the neck is also very useful for patients who don’t always remember to have their phone on them to summon someone, or whose elderly caretaker-spouse doesn’t use a mobile phone (many elderly people are not caught up with texting technology).
6 Suppositories, laxatives and an enema device
These may be necessary because the anti-blood-clotting drugs can cause constipation. So will inertia.
7 Portable urinal
The male patient may have uncontrollable urine leaking, due to catheterization at the hospital. So when the urge strikes, he can go in the handheld urinal, because by the time he shuffles to the nearest toilet, there may already be some leaking.
8 Adult diapers
For the patient who just might leak before getting to the toilet.
9 Food serving tray
The patient may want to spend a lot of time in the bedroom, so food will need to be taken to her.
10 Chair with arm rests
This is necessary for general lounging and when the patient does upper body exercises. The arm rests allow patient to get in and out of the chair. Ideally the chair should be higher than a standard chair, to minimize knee bending.
11 Shoes or slippers that have rubber soles
These will minimize slipping on non-carpeted flooring.
12 Iron supplement
The patient will have iron deficiency due to the surgery.
Additional Concerns
Make sure no rugs or mats might obstruct path of patient’s walker.
For the first several days upon the patient’s return home, a reasonably strong individual should be present to help lift the patient if he or she can’t stand up into the walker; and to guard against possible slipping while patient makes it up and down a staircase.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Manjunath Ramappa, Andrew Port, CreativeCommons
Will Excessive Exercise Prevent Weight Loss?
Ever wonder if too much exercise can prevent weight loss in an individual who’s trying to shed pounds?
First of all, just what is “too much”? This is subjective. Is it merely the time spent doing exercise?
Or should we define “too much exercise” as overtraining, which can cause physical symptoms such as an elevated resting pulse, mood disturbances, insomnia and persistently sore muscles?
The answer to “Can too much exercise stall or prevent weight loss” is NO, NO and NO.
I’ve preached that certain kinds of physical activity are better for fat loss than others.
For example, want to get rid of the fat in your stomach? Do squats and deadlifts, not endless walking on a treadmill and thousands of crunches.
Want to strip the fat off your legs? Do high intensity interval training and plyometrics, rather than steady state, lengthy sessions of aerobics.
Few people exercise literally all the time. They have to work, raise their kids, tend to their spouses, etc.
However, there are people whose jobs involve a lot of physical activity.
When’s the last time you saw a fat landscaper or arborist? When’s the last time you saw a fat roofer or fisherman?
Though overweight people aren’t drawn to jobs involving a lot of physical labor, you have to ask yourself why all of that physical labor—in the people who get these jobs—doesn’t eventually cause them to GAIN body fat.
It’s no coincidence that farmers, construction workers and military personnel are rarely obese. You won’t find a professional basketball or soccer player who’s chubby.
Why would burning a lot of calories prevent weight loss?
What prevents or stalls the losing of body fat is a storage of calories, not an expenditure.
How do we store calories? By being sedentary or by eating more food than our body needs. Unused calories will be stored in the form of fat.
Our ancient ancestors were near-constantly moving.
They walked everywhere, on rough terrain, on hills, across rivers. They paddled canoes, speared at fish, chased after other prey, climbed trees and built huts with their bare hands.
Picture primitive peoples carrying buckets of water, pushing wheelbarrows, surviving without motors, engines and electricity. They didn’t lounge around watching TV or have computers.
There are modern-day peoples who live just like this. They are called modern hunter-gatherers.
It’s unheard of to be a fat or even overweight hunter-gatherer. In any hunter-gatherer society, you’ll likely never find an overweight individual.
Their very physically active lifestyle keeps them from gaining excess body fat.
So to believe that “too much” exercise could hinder weight loss is a very erroneous way of thinking.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Freepik.com
How Do I Raise My Daughter not to Date an Abusive Man?
There are ways to raise your daughter so that she never gets involved with an abusive man.
The environment little girls grow up in is crucial for instilling the inner strength to avoid toxic men.
It’s been said that we are a product of our childhood environment, so certainly, there must be a way to “abuse-proof” your daughter against involvement with violent men — which includes avoiding being drawn to them in the first place.
Steps Parents Can Take to Abuse-Proof Their Daughters
“Treat your daughters with respect,” begins Tina B. Tessina, PhD, a licensed psychotherapist in Southern California who counsels individuals and couples as well as abused women, and is author of over a dozen books including “It Ends With You: Grow Up and Out of Dysfunction.”
Being treated with respect in the home teaches young girls that they deserve to be respected by their eventual boyfriends.
They will also more easily recognize when they’re being mistreated.
The next step is to teach our daughters to be self-sufficient. That’s a major one. Not depending on a man to take care of her is a major deterrent to an abusive relationship.
“Focus on her character, intelligence and competence – not her cuteness, beauty or attractiveness to boys,” continues Dr. Tessina.
An example of this might be as follows: Your 16-year-old daughter expresses an interest in the sport of powerlifting.
You can either encourage this, shame her for it because “girls don’t do those kinds of things,” or fall somewhere in between.
Or maybe your 12-year-old daughter announces one day she wants to be an orthopedic surgeon.
Are you going to tell her to ditch her dream because less than five percent of board-certified orthopedic surgeons are women?
Though few people know this fact from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, you get the point.
“Teach her to value her own self: her intelligence, her competence, her kindness and caring, her strength,” says Dr. Tessina.
She urges parents to show love and respect for each other so that your daughter grows up “with the image of your own relationship as her pattern to follow.”
What if you’re a single parent?
Dr. Tessina says to make sure your daughter witnesses couples “in positive interaction.”
Make sure she’s around good men (your brothers, uncles, cousins, friends, your father).
This way she can learn what kind of people men should be and how to recognize potential for abuse.
Other Ways to Abuse-Proof Your Daughter
Dr. Tessina says to discuss with your daughter things like song lyrics, TV shows and abusive celebrity behavior (e.g., Rihanna and Chris Brown).
“Don’t leave your daughter to absorb pop culture without a discerning voice explaining what works in life and what doesn’t.
“Make sure she’s exposed to good role models in school, in your family, in the neighborhood and in the media. Teach her to value character over notoriety and wealth.”
Martial arts training (combined with a healthy home envirionment) is yet another tool to help build a self-esteem that can’t be chipped away by a toxic man. Freepik.com/master1305
How does a parent teach a daughter to “sniff out” a potentially abusive young man?
“The opposite of abuse is respect,” says Dr. Tessina. “If she is around respectful people most of the time; disrespectful people appear strange and unpleasant.”
In other words, respectful people are normalized, and toxic people are marginalized.
Parents should not punish their daughters for speaking their mind or expressing opinions, though there should be parameters within which to speak (e.g., no foul language).
And yet another way to abuse-proof a daughter so that she never stays with an abusive, controlling man is to encourage her to think independently.
This way, she won’t be drawn to a man who wants to control her.
Give your daughter plenty of opportunities to make choices in life (she can choose her bedroom colors and hairstyle, but she can’t choose the color of your new car or your hairstyle).
Dr. Tessina appears frequently on radio, TV, video and podcasts, and has been in private practice for over 30 years.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Freepik.com—
Sources: tinatessina.com/index.html; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-11-17/health/ct-x-c-female-orthopedic-surgeons-20101117_1_orthopedic-surgery-orthopedic-surgeons-number-of-female-applicants
Signs Your Bullied Child Is Thinking of Suicide
Here are the signs that your bullied child is thinking of taking his or her life — of dying by a planned suicide.
Are Dog Owners More Physically Active and Fitter?
A study shows that walking a dog makes a person more active overall – or is it that active people are more likely to take a dog on walks? (more…)
Best Ways to Prevent Fatal Medical Errors
Medical errors are the No. 3 killer of Americans; so many are highly preventable.
The reason that “medical errors” does not make the list of the top 10 killer of Americans is simple. (more…)
Burn Tons of Fat: Mix Strength Training & Intense Cardio
Do you need to burn a LOT of fat?
Mixing brief intense cardio in between strength training sets burns more fat than a session of strength training followed by cardio exercise.
In an effort to lose weight and get a trim and toned body, many women and men will first complete a session of weight training — and then follow it up with 45 minutes or even an hour of aerobics such as with a stationary bike, jogging on a treadmill or using the revolving staircase.
Fat Burning Guidelines
Insert brief bursts of intense cardio in a strength training workout by doing the cardio immediately after most weightlifting sets.
The cardio segments last 30-60 seconds, and simply performing aerobics for this time period isn’t enough to incite the major fat burning. These 30-60 seconds must be intense.
The reason this burns so much fat is because a taxing of the cardiorespiratory system immediately follows a taxing of the musculoskeletal system; a lot of heavy metabolic work slamming the body all at once.
The cardio segment is conducted while the body is still trying to recover from the weightlifting set.
This modality, called integrated concurrent exercise, was studied by W. Jackson Davis and colleagues (University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of California at Berkley).
Two groups were compared. One group did a strength training workout followed by a treadmill workout.
The other group performed the exact same strength training workout, including same volume, and did the same quantity of exercise on the treadmill – except that the cardio on the treadmill was done right after the strength training sets.
How much of a difference in fat burning did this create after 11 weeks?
It produced 991.8 percent more fat burned, when compared to the first group.
The weightlifting sets need to be intense; we’re not talking simply moving around resistance just to get through the set.
The rep range should be 8-12, and the weights should be medium to heavy, so that getting through 8-12 reps is difficult.
The cardio component should get you very winded; this means 10 mph on the treadmill, not 5 mph.
This principle can be applied to the stationary bike and elliptical machine; use the equivalent intensity. Fast box jumping can be substituted for running and pedaling.
Inserting short intense cardio intermittently in a strength training session will burn up a ton of fat.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18714239
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
Is Rice Cereal Overrated for Babies? Think Outside the Box
There is no scientific proof that rice cereal is better for a baby’s health than any other food out there. (more…)
How to Get a Young Child Fit Enough for Long Walks on Vacation
