iPods, e-readers, cell phones & tablets, cameras, laptops and more.
We live among an array of portable e-devices and each one of them comes with its very own charger.
Some of us allow our kids to use these devices, others do not. Some of us have boundaries about how much use, while others believe that the more hands-on tech, the better.
This post is not about judging what’s right or what’s wrong.
This post is about something that happened with my son and what we can all learn from it.
In our house, our kids do use certain mobile devices, with limits. The device that we choose not to limit is the e-reader. It took a while for us to flip from paper to electronic (pardon the pun – they still read paper as well), but the space-saving alone in a home with 4 kids is astronomical.
One of my sons is beyond what one would call an avid reader. He literally DEVOURS his books. He could read morning, noon & night and never get enough.
It’s wonderful.
But here’s the thing- if his e-reader runs out of battery, he doesn’t want to wait to charge it in order to turn the page…which brings me to that night…
As always, I was going to kiss my sleeping children prior to going to sleep myself.
When I came to my son’s bed, I found his e-reader charger cord lying across his neck.
Was he OK? Was he breathing?
Yes. Thank G-d.
And yet I still felt sick to my stomach. How could I not have realized the potential danger that he’d plug in to keep reading?
I felt like a horrible parent.
But Thank G-d in Heaven, he was OK.
It had been lying ACROSS and not wrapped AROUND, his neck.
That said, had it been later in the night (G-d forbid), when he tends to toss & turn, we might not have been so lucky as there was easily enough cord to pose a strangulation hazard.
Now, please know that we are careful about these kinds of hazards in our home, but somehow the danger of the charger cable had eluded us.
And if it eluded us, it’s possible that it might elude others as well – and THAT is the reason for this post.
The kids are no longer allowed to extend e-reading time beyond battery life by plugging in. If the battery dies – too bad.
Charging cables do not belong anywhere within the ‘bed space’ of any child.
We were incredibly fortunate and are grateful to G-d that all we experienced was a serious warning.
I wanted to share this story to encourage you to review the charging cord policy within your own families as well.
With that I wish you a wonderful & SAFE day,
Tanya
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3 comments
Tanya, thank you for sharing this. My daughter is a voracious reader like your son and I, too, never gave much thought about the charging cord hazard because I don’t let her read in bed. But, as she gets older I may not have much of a choice. Now, though, I’m aware of this potential hazard and I thank you for making it known.
Tayna, how totally scary! I would not even give this a thought either before having read your post. My 10 year old also reads his Kindle at night. He has an old Kindle – it won’t charge while you have it turned on so this couldn’t happened currently with us but could someday when we upgrade to a new Kindle so thank you so much for sharing your story!
Thanks for sharing this story. I am sure most people never even considered this danger. Especially for their older children who probably keep these devices in their rooms.