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Children can climb a handrail in just 10 seconds, and even quicker if there’s something to stand on. The central government should consider taking measures, including a review of the present standards.

6 Comments

Mikiko Ono, a board member of the Tokyo-based child-safety organization Safe Kids Japan and a researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Between 2017 and 2021, the Tokyo Fire Department registered 62 accidents in which children age 5 or younger fell from the second or higher floors.

© Yomiuri Shimbun

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6 Comments
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In certain places where there are inevitably a lot of children (public transport or at a school) then it would be a good idea to enforce such rules, but the government is not capable of enforcing safety standards everywhere and parents still need to be vigilant.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

but the government is not capable of enforcing safety standards everywhere 

That would be a terribly bad excuse because that would mean there would be no use in putting any safety standard since it is always possible they will not be enforced somewhere.

The current standards still puts children at risk, and parents can't be putting attention 100% of the time, relying on this all but ensures accidents will happen. As said before, the reason why better standards are not in place right now is because of the popularity of the measure and the important people that would lose a lot of money to fulfill the new standards.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Do they now all need an instruction manual for their toddlers? Care about and watch them 24 hours a day, such simple. 

Its not that simple though. Most urban dwellers today inJapan live in apartment buildings and most of them are death traps for toddlers.

I lived on a 6th floor apartment when my son was born. The way the apartment was designed it was completely unsafe. The balcony had air conditioning units right next to the railing that could easily be climbed by a toddler. Likewise several bedrooms had furniture next to them which could also be climbed - something that can’t be avoided due to how cramped the rooms in Japan are. And the windows themselves all came with child locks that he figured out how to open by the time he was 2. Pretty much all Japanese apartments have these problems and as renters you are really limited in your ability to change anything.

Its easy enough to say “you have to watch them 24 hours a day” but in reality nobody can literally do that - you have to use the toilet, you have to prepare food, you have to do a million things that require you to take your eyes off your toddler during the day. In order to do that, you need to feel secure enough in your own home that its safe to do so. Japanese apartments don’t provide that level of security.

We ended up moving out when he was 2 to live in a house, but not everyone has that option.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

They should stay home to save lives. Play computer games. Done.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Do they now all need an instruction manual for their toddlers? Care about and watch them 24 hours a day, such simple. And if you can’t guarantee that, then put them into the first or ground floor, that of the own house or if not possible, a one floor nursery or kindergarten building. Isn’t that crystal clear by logic? They only can fall from second floor or higher when they’ve brought there beforehand!

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Nah, taking measures would cost money and make the officials unpopular in election times. Easier just to ignore the dozens of stories each year of kids falling to their deaths.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

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