Back in September there was an article, in the journal "Pediatrics", about a study that was based on reports from emergency rooms across America from 1997 to 2007. The study was concerned about the 229,023 reported snow-sledding-related injuries suffered by those aged 19 years and younger. The report pointed out that of those injuries, 78,096 were head related. Well my friends, the MSM and the leftists across the country are using the report to drive home the point that sled helmets should be mandatory for all children. So get ready for politicians at city, county, and state levels to begin debating the need to pass strict sled-helmet laws for your children. What the politicians and the MSM will not tell tell you is what I am going to tell you.
First, the report doesn't tell you how many injuries are sustained by teens aged 15 to 19 who use sleds like the Paricon Trick 360 (pictured at left), as they do daredevil tricks like so many young boys do with their skateboards and snowboards. Right there you should be curious, because boys aged 15 to 19 are the most likely to be injured while participating in sports than any other age group, bar none. Now to put things in perspective, the US census is expected to show that as of 2010 there are 73.2 million children who are 18 or younger. Since this report covers the 10-year period from 1997 to 2007, that comes to an average of 23,000 injuries per year, but only 7,800 of those were head related. However, the phrase you will hear repeated ad nauseam will be, "20,000 sledding injuries per year". The number that should most interest us is the 42.5% that the report states comprises children between the ages of 10 and 14. That works out to about 10,000 children per year that are injured in sledding incidents, half of the number the MSM is reporting. As for the number of injuries they claim would be avoided by wearing helmets, the true number is only 2975. Again I must point out that we don't have a clue as to how many of the head-injury cases were sustained by teenage boys between the ages of 15 and 19. We do know that of the 10-year total 229,023 injuries, only 4.1% required hospitalization. That makes less than 1000 children per year that were hospitalized. The other 22,000 were treated and released the same day. We all know that millions of parents every day take their children to the ER for a sprained ankle, so I ask, what's the problem?
Now, considering there are 73 million children in America, that is a pretty insignificant number. I do understand that it is not insignificant when it is your child, but we are talking about making laws for less than .004% of children in America.
However, the number you will hear every time the discussion of mandating the use of sled helmets comes up will be, 20,000 children suffer from injuries due to snow sledding. It's reports like this that began the movement that gave us the bike helmet laws for children. Many communities across America are following the example set by leftists around the world by passing laws that mandate helmets for adults who ride bikes through public parks. 
It all begins innocently with stories about parents being worried about their children getting injured while doing things they themselves did as children while growing up, like the story of Ian Miller, a 12 year old boy who eventually died from injuries he received while sledding. Eventually, MSNBC picked up on the story about Ian's death and how his parents, Tom and Holly Miller, have begun a crusade to get local and state governments to force the use of helmets by children while sledding. The Millers have gained the support of the MSM as they make their way around the country telling the tragic story about their son Ian. They are using their son's death in an attempt to tug at the heart strings of America in hopes of getting your local government to pass regulations that would force your child to wear a helmet while sliding down a snowy hill. My first clue that there was something fishy about all this was when I started to see leftist media organizations like MSNBC, the New York Daily News and others getting their two cents worth in. 
Don't get me wrong, I feel for the Millers who lost their son, but they are misguided if they think that convincing local and state governments to force children to wear helmets is going to save any lives or keep children from getting hurt while playing in the snow. Their son, Ian, was 12 years old when he was sledding at a private ski resort called Ski Denton, (pictured to the right). It seems he lost control of his plastic sled and ran into a ski lift tower. Sadly, the Millers' son would eventually die from the head injury he received in the accident. It's a tragedy that his parents believe that his death could have been prevented if their son had been wearing a helmet. All I can say to the Millers is that only God knows if a helmet would have saved his life. However, we cannot prevent every accident that might happen by taking away freedoms that others enjoy in America just because the Millers lost their son in an accident.Fact is, the Millers feel guilty for not having their son wear a helmet, but that guilt does not give them the right to become experts on how other parents should raise their children. Mrs. Miller claims she does not want legislation that would force children to wear helmets on private land, only public land like parks and recreational areas. However, her son was injured at a resort that is privately owned. So the law would not have forced anyone to make her son wear a helmet. Sorry Mrs. Miller, but your son would still have had his accident unless you personally made him wear a helmet. I hate to be so blunt, but facts are facts. You need to keep your grieving to yourself and quit trying to force the rest of us to feel guilty because you failed to buy a helmet for your son.
It is an idea that is gaining momentum though, because as of today, Washington, D.C. mandates helmets for sledders younger than 16, and Massachusetts has a bill that would require sledding helmets for kids under 13. I also understand that St. Paul, Minnesota and Anchorage, Alaska, right now have campaigns in force that strongly urge parents to make their children wear helmets while snow sledding. Knowing the way the left works, it's my guess that the media outlets in those communities have contingency plans in place to jump on and exploit any injury a child may receive from a sledding activity so they can push the politicians into passing helmet laws. After all, if the parents are too stupid to make their child wear a helmet while sledding, then the politicians will force them to by threatening them with a fine. 
There are more than 3.5 million children aged 14 and under that get hurt annually playing some type of recreational activity in America. When you take into consideration the chances of a child getting injured while playing, it's a fact that over 70 percent of injuries on playgrounds alone have resulted in a hospital visit. Two hundred seventy-five thousand children get injured every year from bicycle mishaps, 61,000 children end up in the emergency room from skateboard accidents, and another 38,000 require emergency care for injuries received while roller skating. Regardless of what activity you compare it to, snow sledding is still one of the safest recreational activities that your child can do.Then there is a recent study done by Anne C. Gill, of Baylor College of Medicine, and Nancy R. Kelly, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, which found that over 80 % of fall-related injuries to children younger than four years old occur in the home, and that approximately one-half of all fall related injuries to children aged 5 to 14 occur at home. Sorry Mrs. Miller, but when compared to the many activities children participate in, snow sledding accidents are actually pretty rare. If you really want to prevent major head injuries among children, then maybe you should push for laws that require helmets on children while living at home instead.
Unfortunately, I can read the writing on the wall, and it's just a matter of time before politicians in every state vote to pass some type of legislation that will force children to wear helmets while sledding. So if you live where snow falls and your children enjoy sliding on it, I would keep an eye on your local politicians, because chances are they will be discussing sled-helmet regulations soon. As for me, I am waiting with bated breath for the day that no child will ever be injured again while playing because of laws passed by Nanny State Politicians.