The research reported below (report) describes the health dangers from falling out of a bunk-bed. Nobody in their right mind would disagree that falling - especially on your head - is a serious issue. I wonder why a anyone would think it is important enough to warrant a study unless....

Is it possible that someone, somewhere, might actually use this "data" to devise a new safety law? Maybe THEY want to outlaw bunk beds or, less onerous, create laws that require manufacturers to add special bunk bed safety features. My cynical natiure suggests that this is just the beginning of yet another effort to infringe on rights by using safety as a reason. It hasn't happened yet, but I am so confident it will that I'm devising a wagering pool. The entry who comes closest to the month and year that bunk bed safety legislation is suggested will receive a jar of our TOOTH SOAP (about a 3-month supply- your choice of flavor). Send an email to Info@thecompounder.com with your guess. I'll keep a file and the closest entry will win. In case of a tie each person will receive one free jar of TOOTH SOAP. I'm trying to be lighthearted about this, but there is a very serious reason why I'm warning you to be aware of the danger that this kind of reporting might pose to all of us.

First, I think it is shameful that any resources were devoted to studying someting as intuitively obvious that falling out of a bunk bed can cause injury - even death.
Second, I've observed that our rights are being chipped away at an alarming rate. I pray that nobody steps forward insisting that we take legal action to protect our youth from the dangers on bunk beds. I will NOT be surprised, though, if it actually happens.

Prudent people take necessary precautions to avoid harm and in a free country prudence is not legislated. Like morality, priudent actions cannot be effectively legislated (i.e., Prohibition). Be aware that there are nice looking people out there who want nothing more than to destroy our freedoms. Instead of an all-out war they know their success will arrive if they chip away at our foundations a little at a time. Here are a few examples of legislated prudence that thwarts our freedoms; seatbelt laws, helemt laws, laws that ban smoking in public places, laws that ban smoking in your own apartment, decisions to ban treats at elementart school birthday parties, banning certain dress and hair styles, laws to prohibit us from eating certain foods, and so on. I am not suggesting that these are not good measures in themselves, but when they take on the force of law they becopme tyranical. The United States of America was not founded on tyrany, but on just the opposite. Let's all be careful - very careful.

Here's the Report:

Research indicates thousands of children, young adults suffer bunk bed-related injuries each year.

NBC Nightly News (6/2, story 9, 0:30, Williams) reported on a study of bunk bed-related injuries published in the Jun. issue of Pediatrics.

        In the New York Times's (6/3, F6) Vital Signs column, Eric Nagourney writes that "[a]fter studying emergency admissions over a [16]-year period,...researchers reported that on average, more than 35,000 children and young adults a year were hurt on bunk beds." The majority of "injuries involved falls, and occurred to children under age six." But, "injury rates were also high" among young people aged 18 to 21.

        In fact, this cohort "experienced bunk-bed injuries at nearly double the rate of children in the 14- to 17-year-old age group," according to Health Day (6/2, McKeever). Among "all ages, falls were the most common injury related to bunk beds, along with cuts, bruises, scrapes, and bone fractures." Furthermore, "[f]ractures, while the third most common injury, were nearly six times more likely to require hospital admission, transfer to another hospital, or overnight observation than all other injuries." The researchers also found that children younger "than age three were 40 percent more likely to suffer head injuries than older children, probably because their higher center of gravity tends to cause them to fall head first."