On Thanksgiving eve 2019, Netflix released a new 4-episode documentary series called Broken.  One of those episodes, the third, is called “Deadly Dressers”.  It’s a topic I am intimately familiar with, because I lost my 3-year old daughter Meghan 15 years ago this December 18th to a dresser tip-over.  You can learn more about her story here:  www.meghanshope.org

Since her death, I have been a vocal advocate for tip-over education and prevention.  I am also quite familiar with the content of this episode, because I, along with my fellow members of Parents Against Tip-Overs, are a part of this documentary.

After watching the much anticipated final product, more than a year after we were filmed and interviewed for it, and taking some time to process it and formulate my thoughts, I want to share with you what the documentary did, and more importantly, did not, effectively bring to the attention of the viewer with regard to furniture tip-over incidence and prevention.

The birth of Broken and the role of Parents Against Tip-Overs
In the late spring of 2018, Parents Against Tip-Overs (PAT) was born, formed by a group of parents who had all lost a child to a furniture and/or TV tip-over.  Each of us had been advocating on our own, some with our own organizations dedicated to tip-over prevention and awareness, and some of us, like myself, for more than a decade.  We had found each other thanks to the internet and social media, and after talking to each other, and expressing the same frustrations that our independent organizations were finding it difficult to make a nationwide impact, we decided to form a nationwide coalition.  If we were all trying to do the same thing in our own geographic area, would our voices be that much louder and more powerful if we joined forces?  Could we get our message to a national level if we worked together? The answer, based on what we’ve accomplished in the last year, is a resounding, yes!

As we formed our mission and goals for the coming year, we formed partnerships with two other nationally experienced advocacy groups, Kids in Danger and Consumer Reports.  They shared their knowledge and experience with us, and helped us organize a trip to Washington, D.C. where we all met each other for the first time, met with all five CPSC commissioners, and attended the ASTM Furniture Safety Sub-Committee bi-annual meeting.  During the planning for this, Netflix reached out to one of our members and expressed interest in following us and filming us for a documentary they were working on, and they did just that.

We were, of course, not allowed to discuss it publicly until about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, when the series and trailer was announced.

Why do dressers tip-over and are they really deadly?
Overall, this episode was very well done.  It was captivating, educational, and engaged the viewer for the entire hour.  It begins by introducing you to PAT mom Janet McGee, who lost her son Ted when his IKEA MALM dresser fell on him and killed him during his nap time on Valentine’s day 2016.  It then takes you on a journey to understand how furniture used to be made and how that has evolved to the lighter, do-it-yourself assembly type of furniture that costs less to produce because manufacturing moved to China, and lasts only a few years, versus furniture being designed to last a lifetime like it used to be.

The furniture of today also largely uses lightweight materials for the backing of furniture, making it inherently top and front heavy and thus inherently more unstable than a dresser that has a solid wood back.  Consumers loved furniture that was cheap and allowed for change every few years.  It’s how IKEA was born and thrives.

The documentary did briefly cover how furniture tip-overs happen, basically explaining what so many people fail to understand about tip-overs.  It’s not a parenting or supervision problem.  It’s about lever arms (open drawers) and torque (kids interacting with dressers, which changes the dresser’s center of gravity, causing them to tip).  It’s about physics, plain and simple.

The answer to whether or not dressers are deadly? The answer is yes! 
Since 2000, we know of at least 542 fatalities related to falling furniture, and there have been reports of hundreds of thousands of injuries, most of these to children under 5, though older children and even adults are not immune.  The current statistics are that a tip-over happens about every 17 minutes.  About every half hour a child is seen in an ER for injuries related to a tip-over, and about every 11 days a child dies.  (numbers from the 2018 CPSC Tip-Over Report)

It’s important to understand that you cannot tell by looking at a dresser, or any piece of furniture for that matter, whether or not it poses a tip-over risk. It doesn’t matter how heavy or light it is (it took 2 adults to move Meghan’s dresser).  It doesn’t matter who made it or where you bought it.  It doesn’t matter if it was cheap or expensive.  If it’s not anchored to the wall it can tip and it can seriously injure or kill a child. Period.

Is it about Deadly Dressers or just one kind of deadly dresser?
That said, this episode of Broken was really about IKEA and aimed at exposing their deceptive history, marketing, illegal sourcing of wood, and resistance to fixing the tip-over problem they knew existed.  A problem that they knew had killed children.  It exposed their resistance to recalling their MALM dresser, even after it was known to have killed several children, even after multiple lawsuits, and even after much negative press, they still refused to recall the MALM. 

Two of those parents whose children were killed by a MALM dresser are founding members of Parents Against Tip-Overs.  One of them, Janet McGee, was featured prominently in the documentary.  She was incredibly articulate in speaking about the issues with IKEA, their unstable furniture, and their refusal to do the right thing (making their furniture stable and adherent to the current voluntary furniture safety standard to being with and recalling it immediately when the first death was reported) directly resulting in her son’s completely preventable death.  She also made it clear that the goal of Parents Against Tip-Overs is to work with all manufacturers to make safer furniture, trying to make the point that it’s not just IKEA that is the problem and their goal was to hold IKEA accountable.

IKEA absolutely needs to be called out for their deception and resistance to recalling the MALM, and their failure to market the recall the same way they market their other products, burying the recall notice on their Website, taking weeks and months to respond to requests for the repair or pick up and reimbursement option of the recall, and resisting requests from PAT members to meet and discuss ways to make the recall more effective. They have the proverbial blood of these dead and who knows how many injured children on their hands and did nothing they were not required to do as a result of those lawsuit settlements.  

It was not until the media and advocacy groups turned up the pressure, mounted lawsuits, and publicly called them out again and again with negative press, and the CPSC finally took legal action against them to encourage and eventually force a recall, along with the deaths of even more children while they actively resisted a recall, that they finally even agreed to recalling the MALM.  The fact that it took more than one death, let alone all the media pressure and the fact they utilized every loophole to their advantage is irresponsible and completely unacceptable.  This is something the public knew nothing about until now.

IKEA, and all manufacturers, have a moral and ethical obligation to make a safe product, and as soon as they get a report of a serious injury or death, they should be pro-active in addressing it by alerting the public, not burying their heads in the sand and throwing money at it, as if that will fix the problem or bring any solace to those parents who had to bury their children because of IKEA’s greed. This episode did a fabulous job at conveying those points.

It was not mentioned or made clear in the documentary, that other IKEA furniture has killed children including the HEMNES dresser, a wardrobe, and RAAKE dresser so far that we are aware of.

It’s not just IKEA!
What was not made clear, was the fact that more than half of the members of PAT’s children were NOT killed by IKEA dressers, but by dressers made by other manufacturers. This is true of the general statistics as well.  Furniture that was made by manufacturers who do not all make ready to assemble furniture.  Manufacturers that make juvenile furniture and furniture that was sold and marketed as nursery furniture. 

Parents assume if a product is sold in the United States, especially if it is marketed for children, is safe.  That is simply not true.  Just look at how many products are recalled every week! You can find them at www.cpsc.gov/recalls

This is concerning and disappointing, for it is not just IKEA or ready to assemble furniture that is falling on and injuring and killing kids, yet for many in this country, that’s what they take away from all the media coverage about IKEA tip-overs.  Including this documentary.

Exposing the role and limitations of the CPSC
The documentary also brought to light some of the problems with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and their role in protecting the consumer when the agency becomes aware of unsafe, dangerous, and downright deadly products. 

Former Chair Marietta Robinson was fantastic and pointed out several problems that I wholeheartedly agree with.  The CPSC is an agency hardly anyone knows about, but everyone relies on because their mission is to protect the consumer from “unreasonably dangerous products” and to issue recalls.

The Commission, at least some of its members, act in the interest of industry far more often than they do in the interest of the consumer.  Sadly, this often happens along political party lines, which is also completely unacceptable for a Federal Agency tasked with keeping the citizens of the U.S. safe.  They are the CONSUMER product safety commission, not the industry product protection commission!  I also assure you, tip-over is not a partisan issue.  Both Republican and Democratic children are equally victims of tip-overs.  Furniture doesn’t discriminate who it falls on! 

Thankfully, acting Chair Ann Marie Buerkle who was interviewed in the documentary, has resigned her position and is no longer at the CPSC. Commissioner Robert Adler, who is featured in the scenes with the members of PAT around the table, is now the acting Chair.  The current makeup of the Commission is 2 Republican commissioners and 2 Democratic commissioners with one more to be named by the President soon, to fill the seat left vacant with acting Chair Buerkle resigned.

Section 6(b) – The gag order that delays or prevents recalls, and results in preventable injuries and deaths!
Another little known, but incredibly important restriction on the CPSC was also part of this episode, although it was only briefly touched upon.  It’s called section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA).  It basically says that the Commission cannot disclose a product hazard or issue a recall without the agreement of the manufacturer!  This allows the manufacturer to dictate the terms of any public notice of known injuries or deaths, or to refuse to have any public disclosure at all!  If the Commission feels strongly, that they need to go above the head of the industry, they must sue the manufacturer, which takes years and requires funding the Commission just doesn’t have in their budget.  This is what happened with IKEA and the dresser recall, and had IKEA agreed to and issued the recall when they learned of the first death, instead of their “repair” program, Ted McGee, Camden Ellis, and the other children who have died from the MALM dresser, might be alive today!

This is the same reason the Fisher Price Rock and Play and other inclined sleepers were not recalled until Consumer Reports wrote a scathing article citing twice as many deaths as the CPSC reported (but both they and Fisher Price knew about) and a media storm ensued, resulting in tons of negative press and demands by consumer groups and the American Academy of Pediatrics to issue an immediate recall.  Only then, did Fisher Price agree to a recall!
This needs to stop!  Manufacturers need to be held accountable and do the right thing to keep consumers safe.  If they won’t do it on their own, the CPSC needs the authority to force a recall without their consent and notify the public of potential or actual hazards that can result in injury or death.  No exceptions.

Unfortunately, only Congress can repeal 6(b), and only a massive public outcry will make that happen. We need your help with that!  We need you to write or call your Congressional representatives and senators and tell them you want to see section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act repealed!

The CPSC has the power to issue a mandatory standard, but is dragging their feet
The CPSC also has the power, right now, to issue a mandatory furniture safety standard.  They have been divided on doing so and the Republican members of the commission voted against using their power to do so under another rulemaking part of the Consumer Product Safety Act.  Instead, the three that voted against it, want to allow the voluntary process to do its work while they wait for more “data”.  In March of this year, all 5 commissioners agreed to work toward a mandatory standard.  They have begun their own testing, but this process is likely to take years.  The furniture industry is more than happy to bide their time and wait so they can continue to avoid making changes that would make furniture safer now.

What’s this voluntary standard?
The voluntary standard process basically allows the industry to make dressers however they want, safe and stable or not, because the voluntary standard is basically a suggestion.  Because it’s not required that manufacturers follow it, many do not. 

The voluntary standard the ASTM sub-committee on furniture safety is tasked with creating (largely comprised of furniture manufacturers) has existed for nearly 20 years!  If they can’t create an effective voluntary standard in 20 years, they likely never will unless they are forced to.  Why?  Because the industry doesn’t want it.  They whine that if the “good actors” comply with the standard, or make it even stronger, the ones who don’t follow the voluntary standard at all will get a bigger market share which translates into lower profits.  Basically, they are putting profits over the health and safety of children.  They will tell you they aren’t, but the stalling, stonewalling, circular arguments and constantly saying they don’t have enough data will tell you the truth.

That said, there are some manufacturers that do comply with the voluntary standard and some that even go beyond it and test furniture for stability with a higher test weight.  Very recently, with the media coverage from Consumer Reports, and media featuring PAT parents over the past year, and ahead of the release of Broken, has found them suddenly much more invested in anchoring education and a desire to work with retailers, which while good, this could also be the industry’s way of diverting and avoiding having to make more stable furniture.  It’s cheaper and easier that way.

The problems with the voluntary standard process, and the industry’s concerns versus ours, as well as the impact PAT has had by attending and participating in these standards meetings could very easily have been incorporated into this documentary, and we very much wanted it to be, but it was not.

How are dressers tested for safety?
The documentary did include a video and description of the current way dressers are tested for “safety”.  The test is inadequate and downright misleading.  Children don’t gently open only one drawer and gradually put up to 50 lbs of force on it.  It’s not a real-world use test, nor is it good enough to protect kids from tip-over injuries and deaths.  It also did not explain what the voluntary safety standard is and what it does and does not include. It currently only covers clothing storage units 27 inches tall and taller.  Testing does not reflect real-world use, or account for the forces of a child interacting with a dresser, opening multiple drawers, pulling, pushing, or climbing on it, nor does it account for the effect of carpeting versus a hard floor, all of which impact stability and tip-over risk.  It also only accounts for children up to age 5 in weight and we know older children and even adults have been injured and killed when a clothing storage unit of furniture has tipped on them. This is a huge issue and one we desperately wanted to be brought to the attention of the viewer and it was not.

The CPSC is engaging in their own testing, which we’ve asked for and given input into, and the industry is more than happy to wait for their data rather than aggressively move forward with their own testing to advance the stability and safety of furniture and create a stronger and more effective voluntary standard. The CPSC has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR). This was indicated at the very end of the episode and as it clearly said, it’s expected to take years.

We don’t have years.  Its already been far too long.  542 fatalities from tip-over is more than enough data. The industry has had more than enough time to do the right thing and create a robust voluntary furniture safety standard.  So has the CPSC.  Frankly, they’ve both failed.  Not only our kids, who died, but yours, too, because it could just as easily happen to you. 

What we do have – The CPSC Anchor It! Campaign
In 2015, after 10 years of myself and other advocates trying to get the word out that furniture needs to be anchored to the wall to prevent tip-overs, the CPSC launched their Anchor It! Campaign.  I, Lisa Seifert from Shane’s Foundation, and Keisha Bowles from Another Day, Another Chance, were part of that launch as community advocates for the campaign.  A PSA featuring the 3 of us was called “Real Moms Urge You to Anchor It” and performed very well on social media, helping to reach parents and connect the issue of tip-over and the need to anchor by using our tragic personal stories.

That said, the consumer should not have to take the final step to make furniture safer and the industry should not consider this a reason to avoid making safer and more stable furniture.  Manufacturers know right now how to design and construct furniture so that it is stable, but it will increase their production costs and so they resist.  Until ALL manufacturers are required to do so, newer furniture, as well as the existing furniture in your home, must be anchored to the wall.

One other important thing that you need to realize is that furniture anchors and straps, including the ones sold with furniture, are not actually tested by a universal standard, if at all, to see if they are capable of holding a dresser/piece of furniture to the wall. 

The anchors sold with dressers are only required to hold 50 pounds for a brief period of time when slowly and carefully hung from one end of the anchor.  They are not tested when attached to the wall and the dresser and installation instructions, while included, are not always clear. 

Most dressers weigh more than 50 lbs, especially once drawers are full, and when you add the weight of a child and forces created when drawers are open and pulled on or climbed in. It adds up to way more than 50 pounds! That said, anchoring your furniture is absolutely necessary and more than one anchor may be (and very likely will be) needed. 
You can learn more about how and why to anchor your furniture at www.anchorit.gov.

Parents Against Tip-Overs: What you see versus what happened that week
The members of Parents Against Tip-Overs were followed for an entire day by the Netflix crew.  They likely had about 6-8 hours of footage from that day just from us.  Plus, they interviewed Janet McGee and Brett Horn at their homes shortly afterwards.  You saw a very small fraction of what we discussed, advocated for, and the larger mission of PAT. 
We met with all five CPSC Commissioners that day.  They did not film every meeting, but we had hoped our purpose in meeting with all of them would be part of the episode.  A fraction of what we discussed with Commissioner Adler was shown, but many of our talking points, all of them valid and important, did not make the final cut.  They also interviewed a few of the commissioners one on one which you saw snippets of.  That said, I do think they did a good job telling the story they were trying to tell.

We also all attended the ASTM Furniture Safety sub-committee meeting.  It’s held twice a year, and most of us attend each meeting in person. If we can’t be there in person, we call in to participate via phone.  This is the organization that is tasked with developing the voluntary furniture safety standard for clothing storage units only (dressers and other pieces of furniture that would be used to store furniture like wardrobes, chests of drawers, etc.)  I’ve written about the issues and challenges with this process on the Meghan’s Hope Safety Blog previously. 

We hoped that the process of developing a voluntary standard, and the industry’s resistance to creating an effective voluntary standard, would be included and highlighted, because it’s a huge part of why the statistics on tip-over injuries and deaths have not significantly decreased and a huge part of the mission of Parents Against Tip-Overs.  It was not.  The voluntary standard was briefly mentioned, but not how it is developed and how strongly the industry fights to prevent changes.  It’s contentious, and the same circular arguments happen every meeting.  At the end of the day, the manufacturers are afraid it will increase their costs, resulting in decreased profits, and that the manufacturers who don’t participate and comply with the voluntary standard will get all the business. 

IKEA is an active part of this sub-committee with us.  It would have been easy to include this information, even if they could not film the meeting, but they did not. It was alluded to, but the average viewer likely did not make that connection.

I believe the producers at least requested interviews with other industry members of the ASTM sub-committee.  I do not know if those interviews were on camera, if they happened at all, and why they chose not to include this vitally important aspect of the fight to end furniture/dresser tip-over in this documentary.

PAT also had dinner that night and Netflix filmed much of it, talking to us individually or in small groups, and taking the wider, broader shots.  Some of the more poignant moments were shown, and they were important and impactful, but so much more of what we are passionate about, discussed that night, and wanted them to help us bring to the attention of the viewer could have been included in this documentary.

What’s Broken about Broken’s Deadly Dressers Episode?
While I feel the Netflix documentary, Broken: Deadly Dressers was an incredibly well-made documentary, and it did bring to light some of the issues contributing to dresser tip-overs, it did not leave the average viewer with the “OMG, I had no idea this could happen, we have to secure our dressers right now” feeling I was hoping it would.

Instead, it was much, much too focused on IKEA, and far beyond the role the company has in furniture tip-over.  I have heard more "I'll never shop at IKEA again" comments than I've heard "I need to anchor my dresser to the wall" comments, and that's deeply concerning and frustrating. If the viewer got the message furniture tip-over is a danger they need to address in their homes, the vast majority think it’s only cheap or IKEA furniture that’s a danger.  That is very dangerous thinking. This is a perception that has grown among parents and the public with every new media story focused on IKEA dressers. I want to scream IT'S NOT JUST IKEA DRESSERS THAT KILL KIDS!

That comment is in no way meant to minimize the deaths of the children from IKEA dressers a wardrobes.  It’s just that the public, and even the media, forms their opinion based on what they hear and see, and there is very little about the bigger issue of tip-over outside of IKEA’s MALM dressers in the media today.  It's no wonder the public has the perception they do, which is why I wish there was less time spent on IKEA and more time spent on the other issues parents need to know about to keep their kids safe from ALL furniture in this documentary. I feel the media has a responsibility to expose all of the issues, especially when we are feeding them what they need to educate the public about.

I understand that the goal of the Broken docuseries was to highlight how deceit in product manufacturing and marketing can have significant and even deadly consequences, but a tremendous opportunity was missed and could have been incorporated, even with a heavier focus on IKEA as the example.

There were aspects of the documentary that could have been addressed in less time, allowing for the inclusion of the other aspects of tip-over prevention. For example, the entire segment on deforestation could have been much shorter and still have gotten the point across. 

Points I wish they spent bit more time on:

• The fact that ALL furniture has the potential to tip over and injure children, not just IKEA or inexpensive ready to assemble furniture.  This fact cannot be emphasized enough!
• Where the data for the statistics on tip-over come from and what the problems are with it. The crux of which is the fact we know, and the CPSC admits, that the data is only estimated and largely under-reported.  My own survey results support this. I wrote an in depth blog on this topic here:  The tip-over data dilemma
• The fact that you cannot tell by looking at a piece of furniture/dresser how safe or unsafe it is.  It doesn’t matter how much it cost, who made it, where it’s sold, what it’s made from, how heavy or light it is, or what room of the house it’s in.  If it’s not anchored properly to the wall, it can tip.  This is a point that could have easily been made along side the IKEA focus, especially tying in the stories all the Parents Against Tip-Overs and what type of dresser fell on their child.
• What the current voluntary standard says, what type of furniture is included, and what type is not, who is responsible for creating that standard, and why it’s so difficult to make that standard effective.  Exposing the furniture industry as a whole and their resistance to advancing that standard is an important part of our fight that was not clearly explained and the public needs to know that.
• Why we need a mandatory furniture safety standard NOW, which leads to the STURDY act, what it is, why we need it, and the fact we need the public’s help in getting it passed through the senate.  This bill was preceded by three other bills related to furniture safety introduced to the U.S. House that lay the groundwork for it and was “in the works” at the time of filming. It could have been included if in no other way, then at the end in the same way they added the information about the CPSC voting to proceed with working toward the creation of a mandatory safety standard. Stay tuned, my next blog will be all about the STURDY Act and how you can help us get a strong, effective, mandatory and comprehensive furniture safety standard that all manufacturers need to comply with.
• They did not include vitally important information on how to report a tip-over or any other product hazard to Safer Products.gov which is one of the ways the CPSC gets the vitally important data on furniture tip-over
• The fact that the only way to ensure ALL furniture in your home doesn’t tip-over on your child is to anchor it to the wall with an appropriate anchor(s) according to manufacturer directions.
• The fact that furniture anchors (including the ones that come with furniture, even IKEA’s) are not actually tested when attached to the furniture to see if they’ll hold the weight of the furniture with a child climbing on it and can and have failed.  Anchors are not all created equal. There are many counterfeit anchors on the market that are less expensive, not tested at all, and made with cheaper materials and even more likely to fail and consumers don't know the difference.

 
One of my biggest frustrations is the lack of the backstory on the groundwork laid by parent advocates long before the IKEA deaths were exposed in the media. Important steps that started this entire process in motion including bills in Congress asking for warning labels, anchors sold with furniture, and instructions came from a bill first introduced in 2005 and bearing my daughter’s name, grassroots letter writing (with pen and paper, before everyone had email!), media coverage that was only TV and print and before it could be shared electronically, and years and years of advocating for anchoring furniture, safety standards, and getting the messaging out there by word of mouth, long before social media existed, that there is no inherently safe furniture. The work of parent advocates before social media is what got this ball rolling and catalyzed the CPSC's now annual tip-over report, moved the voluntary standard process along to include warning labels, anchors, and to create a stability test in the first place.  

Because this backstory was not explained, many comments we’ve received are to the tune of “Why wouldn’t you just use the anchor kit that was included and follow the directions?”  "Why are you blaming the manufacturer for your failure to anchor your dresser?"  They don’t understand that if it were not for parents like me/us, those anchors, warning labels and directions would not be included today!  Our reality was very different because we didn't know and anchoring was not on anyone's radar 15 years ago. Although some manufacturers are trying to do the right thing and follow the voluntary standard, many do not.

Because the safety standard is still only voluntary, warning labels and anchors are not included with many pieces of furniture today!  It also wasn’t clear (though it was alluded to) that IKEA’s Secure It campaign was only created so they could avoid a recall, not because they wanted to protect children out of a moral or ethical obligation. The general public think all the negative attention on IKEA is unjust because they tell people to anchor furniture.  They completely missed the point they only started that program because they were forced to.

This has resulted in all of us receiving accusatory and inflammatory posts and parent blaming and shaming comments, who think we were blaming IKEA or the industry for our ignorance. They completely missed the fact that we did not know about this risk until our kids died, and we went public with our stories to expose the industry for their shady and resistant practices to protect THEIR kids. They know about it because of us. It could just have easily happened to their kids. They aren't special or better, they are just luckier than we were. We expected that we would receive these types of messages from trolls and parent shamers, in part because we’ve been receiving those comments for years, but an opportunity was missed by Netflix to help us share this important aspect of the tip-over back story and truly set the tone for the documentary. 

That said the documentary did address the following:

• The multi-layered problems with IKEA’s resistance to acting in the best interest of its customers in favor of its pocketbook as well as exposing their unethical and irresponsible business practices
• What causes dressers to tip over
• The problems with the CPSC and how they contribute to children continuing to suffer injuries and deaths from tip-overs
• It brought a human and emotional aspect to the tip-over issue by showing the parent advocates of Parents Against Tip-Overs in action and sharing parts of their stories, frustrations, and suggestion

The impact of BROKEN: Deadly Dressers on the pubic

• It has generated discussion on social media and an opportunity to engage with people on the topic of furniture tip-over

• It’s led to some people sharing their own tip-over story publicly for the first time, and an opportunity for us to provide support and information to them
• People are more aware there is a problem with dressers falling on and killing kids than they were before they saw the documentary, and even if they have a narrow view of what kind of furniture tips, there is an awareness there they didn’t have before
• It has provided a conversation starter and an opportunity for many teachable moments
• Parents have reached out to ask how they can secure their furniture and what anchors they should use
• Parents and others have asked how they can help us share our message
• We're getting a lot more trolling and nasty comments on our own public media, but that was expected and it means people are at least aware of the issue, even if they don't believe it's something that can happen to them.

Final thoughts and our gift to you
While I thought and hoped the episode was going to be about the broader issue of furniture tip-overs, and not so focused on IKEA as a company outside of the topic of dresser tip-overs, I understand the picture they were trying to paint to tell the story, and I am deeply grateful to Netflix for helping to bring this issue to the awareness of their audience.

Children can interact with furniture in a thousand different ways.  999 times, that furniture might not wobble or tip-over.  But one time, it will.  You have no idea when that one time might be.  It could be the first time. It could be during nap or nighttime. It could be at grandma’s house, at day care, at your best friend’s house, at a store, at a hotel, or at a church hall.  It could be anywhere there is furniture that is not properly secured to the wall. 

It doesn't matter if...

• It doesn’t matter if your child has ever climbed before. 
• It doesn’t matter if you’ve told them not to climb on furniture. 
• It doesn’t matter if you are “always with them” because you are not. You sleep.  You use the bathroom.  You look at your phone a zillion times a day. Your eyes are not always on them, and even if they were, it won't stop a tip-over from happening.
• It doesn't matter if you are in the same room as they are. You can be in the same room and be powerless to stop a tip-over from happening.  Don’t take my word for it, ask the parents who’ve experienced the horror of watching it happen right in front of them.  
• It doesn't matter how fast you can move. You are not faster than gravity. 
• It doesn't matter if you think you'll hear the "crash" and be able to save them.  Once you hear the crash, it’s too late.  You also might hear nothing, because their body muffles the sound and they've already suffocated or suffered a catastrophic head injury. 
• It doesn't matter if you think statistically it won't happen to you.  It can. 

What does matter:

• Anchoring your furniture.  All of it.  Anchor your TV’s.  All of them.  Do it today. Don’t let your child play in places where furniture and TV’s are not anchored. Ever. 

I didn’t know about the danger Meghan’s dresser posed.  None of the PAT parents did, either. 

You do. 

Netflix, I, and Parents Against Tip-Overs have given you a tremendous gift.  We’ve told you another way you can protect your child from serious injury or death.  Trust me.  You don’t want to join our “club”.  You don’t want to bury your child knowing you could have prevented their death.  A few dollars and a few minutes to anchor will save lives.

Please, take the issue of furniture tip-over seriously.  It doesn’t just happen with IKEA furniture.  It doesn’t happen to “bad” parents.  It's not a supervision problem. It happens because of physics.  Let me say that again.  It happens because of physics.  You can’t predict the exact scenario your child might interact with a piece of furniture to cause it to fall on them, but you can prevent it. 

I’d like to conclude with this sentiment yet again, because it’s that important and I feel I can’t say it enough.

You cannot tell by looking at a dresser if it’s likely to tip over.

• It doesn’t matter who made it. 
• It doesn’t matter how heavy or light it is. 
• It doesn’t matter how tall or wide it is. 
• It doesn’t matter where you bought it. 

If it is not properly anchored to the wall, it can tip over and it can seriously injure or kill a child. 

It’s that simple.  It’s that scary. It’s true.  It happened to my child and it can happen to yours.

Please, Anchor it!
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In the spirit of collaboration, I am writing this open letter and blog post to the attention of the ASTM furniture safety sub-committee, the AHFA and furniture manufacturers, and the CPSC.  While I am grateful to be working together with you all to end tip-overs, and for the (painfully slow) progress that has been made, especially in the past year, I would like the opportunity to share with you important insights and thoughts, were I ever given the time for a formal presentation.  In lieu of that, I respectfully request you read this blog post instead.

The purpose of the ASTM Furniture Safety Sub-Committee
The ASTM furniture safety sub-committee, which is comprised of the American Home Furnishing Alliance (AHFA) and their member manufacturers, furniture manufacturers, other related industry professionals, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) all claim they want to end the tip-over epidemic as much as I and the other consumer members of the committee do. This is, in fact, what the committee was created to do. The problem is, they appear to have no apparent sense of urgency to do so, as is evidenced by the fact it's been 19 years since the committee was first formed, and there has been little significant change in the numbers of children injured and killed by falling furniture each year. I've also been told that this committee is likely the most dysfunctional and contentious sub-committee in all of ASTM.  

Only recently has the CPSC issued a notice of proposed rule making regarding tip-over prevention, and perhaps not coincidentally after members of Parents Against Tip-Overs, of which I am a founding member, met with all 5 commissioners last November to share our stories, our frustrations with the process, and our suggestions for solutions. We've kept in contact with the CPSC, testified in front of them about why this issue needs to be a priority, and follow up to be sure they are following through on tasks the assured us they would.

Likewise, our presence at the ASTM furniture safety sub-committee meeting has changed the dynamic of these meetings.  We call them out, we offer suggestions and insights into the problem, the process, and the solutions, that only we can, forcing them to at least listen to us, and hopefully, put an end to years of stalling, stonewalling, and circular arguments with no real progress.  All while hundreds of children have died and hundreds of thousands have been injured.  Every one of which could have been prevented if they took this issue to heart and truly cared about the children and families behind the statistics, instead of choosing to focus on their pocketbooks and serve political, professional, and corporate interests.

We sit together at the table several times a year at this ASTM furniture safety sub-committee and task group meetings, attempting to collaborate on creating a safety standard that is truly effective in preventing injuries and deaths due to tip-overs specific to clothing storage units (i.e. dressers or any furniture that can be used to store clothing). The current standard is only voluntary, and for reasons explained in previous blog posts, is inadequate and ineffective at preventing injuries and deaths, which primarily involve children, but also include adults and a growing number of the elderly.  

20 years is more than long enough
This sub-committee first formed in the year 2000.  Four years before my daughter died when her Ragazzi changing table/dresser fell on her in the early morning hours while the rest of the family was asleep.  We did not hear it fall, for her body absorbed the impact of the dresser falling onto her, and onto a carpeted floor.  She could not cry, for her head we presume was trapped in the vertical drawer, her airway compressed by the side of the drawer. She died in mere minutes. This is a commonality in tip-over deaths. For those who did not hear it fall, or can't understand how you can't hear a tip-over, this is why.

In an instant, just one week before Christmas in 2004, my world came crashing down, just like that dresser did on my only daughter, and I've had to live my life without my beautiful little girl, her twin without his soul mate, and her older brother without the sister he adored. Instead of making Christmas cookies that day, I had to figure out how to plan a funeral for my daughter. No parent should ever have to know this pain.  

Her death, like every other tip-over death, could have been prevented.  If her dresser was designed so that it was not front and top heavy, if it were stable when a child interacted with it, if it were tested for safety, if I knew of the risk it could fall and kill her, if I knew that a proper furniture anchor could also protect my children, and those anchors were advertised and widely available where other childproofing supplies are sold, I'd have used it. 

The Promise
I promised Meghan that cold and sunny December morning as I held her dead body in my arms and rocked her for the last time in the emergency room, that I would make sure she was the last child to die from a tip-over.  Much to my dismay, I was unable to keep my promise.  She was far from the last child to die from a falling piece of furniture, and the people in a position to prevent it from happening to others have yet to create effective and meaningful mandatory furniture safety standards. 

What the hell will it take to make that a reality?

In fact, since Meghan died on December 18th, 2004, according to the CPSC's 2018 Tip-Over Report, a total of 274 more (mostly) children have lost their lives to a furniture tip-over, and that's only through 2017.  That is beyond unacceptable.  Every single one of them could have been prevented.  Every. Single. One.  It's been 19 years since this sub-committee was formed and they STILL don't have an adequate safety standard, clearly evidenced by the fact the number of injuries and deaths per year have changed very little since 2000.

From 2006-2017 there were 402,300 ER visits because of furniture-tip-overs!  That's an average of 27,300 every single year, or 75 every day, or 3 every single hour of every single day.  And these are just the ones that were reported to the CPSC!  The actual number of tip-overs and minor injuries or near misses are likely easily twice this!
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My promise has not changed.  I will do everything I can to facilitate the end of injuries and deaths due to furniture tip-over. Including holding those in a position to make it happen right now accountable for doing so. I vowed to change the world by making it a safer place from tip-overs.  I will not rest until I do. 

​In the 14 years since Meghan died, the voluntary furniture safety standard itself has changed very little, and the changes that have been made were ones catalyzed by The Katie Elise and Meghan Agnes Act, a bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2005 and again in 2008 in memory of my daughter and Katie Lambert.  It's cousin, the STURDY Act was just introduced last month. It is my fervent hope that the STURDY Act is embraced and supported by all members of Congress and passed. It's likely the only way we can put an end to the tip-over epidemic and force all furniture manufacturers to adhere to an adequate furniture safety standard once and for all.

​Why do we need Congress to pass a law? 
Because if a group of industry "experts" including engineers and masters of design can't find a way to stop tip-overs in 19 years, they likely never will until forced to do so.  It's not because they can't.  It's because they have a bigger concern than the well-being and safety of our children. Which I can only presume is the almighty dollar, which is clearly of more importance to them than hundreds of thousands of injured children every year or of parents who've had to bury their children as a result.

I have no choice to think that way, because we know college students have designed stable furniture that doesn't tip.  We know manufacturers right now have designs that are stable and don't tip even with a testing protocol stronger than the current voluntary standard.  We know that right now, this committee has two proposed changes to the standard that they've been arguing about for years that would save lives right now, and yet, they have yet to agree to make the changes. I've sat in these meetings for years and listened to the same arguments over and over and over with a mind-boggling resistance to change and forward progress from the industry. 

Since Meghan's death, I've become an expert on the subject of tip-overs and how to prevent them.  I've been advocating for over 14 years, literally since the day she died.  I want to raise awareness of the issue. I want to educate everyone, everywhere about this danger that exists in literally every single home. I want the tip-over epidemic to end.I want the ASTM furniture safety subcommittee and the CPSC to do absolutely everything in their power to make a robust, effective, and mandatory safety standard to protect kids (and adults).  Now. 

I realize that there are better solutions likely in the future, but we need to make changes now to make furniture safer and reduce the number of injuries and deaths.  We can always make the standard better, but doing nothing until the "perfect" solution is found is irresponsible and downright deadly. 

How do we stop this epidemic?
Education and Action. 

We need to educate people not only about the danger, and why it's a danger, but I want them to know how to prevent it.  I also want those in a position to reach the public, especially the most vulnerable populations, our children and our elderly, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, family practice doctors, geriatricians, independent and assisted living facilities, senior centers, emergency room staff, teachers, day care providers, social workers, churches, DCF, childbirth educators, postpartum and NICU staff, and retailers, to name a few, to actually do their part to educate those they serve about the dangers of tip-overs and how to prevent them. 

I also want to see those in a position of power to force change at a national and global level to do so. Now.  I'm looking at you ASTM, AHFA, every single furniture manufacturer out there, the CPSC, and members of Congress.  You are tasked with protecting consumers from these dangers and you should be ashamed.  You are failing.  Do you know why you are failing?  Because you are not listening to the people who are the experts on the other side.  The ones that have an honorary PhD in tip-overs.  The parents and grandparents who had to bury their children because of a tip-over, and those whose children survived a tip-over, but will never, ever, be the same as a result of their catastrophic injuries.  I'd like to remind you that you are not even hearing from the ones who had near-misses or minor injuries that were never reported.  

Instead of taking meaningful action, you are saying you care and it's important, but you are constantly delaying forward progress by hiding behind a dirty little four letter word.  DATA. 

Let's talk about data
Here's the thing. I understand the value of data. I'm actually a woman of science. Specifically of movement science. Surprised?  I'm not just some bereaved mother who is pissed off because a dresser you made, and that I thought was safe, fell and my child happened to be one of the unlucky ones killed by it. Though make no mistake, I am most definitely her. I am also a physical therapist who has worked with the very young and the very old. I understand child development and how children interact with their world. I understand the physics of how the human body works and how it can and cannot react at all ages when it interacts with other objects and the world around it. I'm also a runner and a ballroom dancer.  I get the physics of movement. I have the book knowledge and the practical knowledge from the human body side of things. I have worked in health care since I was 15 years old, and for those keeping score, that's 35 years.  I've also been a childbirth educator, a child and home safety instructor, a birth doula, and a CPR and first aid instructor.  I'm the mother of three. I know a hell of a lot about kids and keeping them safe.  I am intelligent, well-spoken, and quite frankly, I know more about tip-overs than I ever wanted to or should, and in a much broader sense than any of you that are on the industry or government side do.

I am also not alone.  We, the parents of the children who were victims of tip-overs, look at the data in a different way than you do.  Our children ARE your data.  For every one of those deaths, there is a pain and heartache I hope you never have to know.  Your data, our children, are not just numbers.  Tip-overs don't happen because parents were not doing their job.  It wasn't just a "fluke".  Tip-overs happen because the furniture is not inherently stable or made to withstand the forces of a child climbing, pulling, reaching, or pushing on it.  Clearly, the data you claim to be waiting for is nothing more than a shield for your pocketbooks.  If it's not, you have a hell of a lot of convincing to do. 

If 542 dead children in the past 17 years, and hundreds of thousands of injured ones are not enough "data" to motivate you to take meaningful action in a timely manner to create an effective safety standard, I'd like to know what the number of dead children you'd consider enough to take action is.   

Here's what you need to acknowledge and understand about data
And then apply it to the voluntary standard process, data collection and analysis, and the creation of a mandatory furniture safety standard.

By the CPSC's clear indication in their annual tip-over report, their reports of injuries and deaths due to tip-overs are ESTIMATES.  You all know why they are estimates, but since everyone in that room last week at the ASTM furniture safety subcommittee meeting who was not a consumer member seems to have forgotten, or perhaps just ignored, let me help you understand why the data you are claiming you need and are waiting for will never materialize.
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1. The NEISS problem.The vast majority of the data the CPSC gets on tip-over injuries and deaths comes from the NEISS hospitals. According to the CPSC, "NEISS injury data are gathered from the emergency departments (ED) of approximately 100 hospitals selected as a probability sample of all 5,000+ U.S. hospitals with emergency departments"  That's only 0.02% of the actual data from ER's that is definitively captured. And it's ONLY accounting for injuries severe enough to require an ER visit!  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to extrapolate that data and realize this problem is way more pervasive, and tip-overs are significantly more common, than the CPSC statistics indicate.
2. The cause of death problem. Information is also gathered from death certificates.  This is never going to be sufficient unless all medical examiners in the U.S. are required to not only report the medical cause of death, but the attributing factors.  For example, Meghan's death certificate states positional asphyxiation due to a fallen bureau.  I know of other tip-over deaths where the death certificate simply said "asphyxiation" or "blunt force trauma" with no documentation of the tip-over.  Those deaths would never be captured as being due to tip-over.  Medical examiners also don't always know what the contributing factors to the death were, either.
3. Non-ER visit data is not captured. The minor injuries that don't require or are not seen in an ER, but instead are seen a a pediatrician's office or urgent care center are not captured at all unless a rare and savvy doctor knows how and why to report it to the CPSC.  The vast majority do not.
4. Near misses (furniture that tipped, but the child was not injured) and minor injuries are not captured. The near misses and minor injuries that don't require any medical intervention at all are completely unknown, since there is no official record of them.  Other tip-over parents like myself know about them, because those parents tell us about them, and it happens a lot!
5. It's not easy to report a tip-over.  The average parent, consumer, physician/medical professional, or medical examiner has no idea Saferproducts.gov exists, or why.  They don't know how or why to report injuries due to a defective or unsafe product including tip-overs.  Even if they are informed about it, it's cumbersome and time consuming and many parents are fearful of talking to a government agency, especially because many parents whose children are injured or killed by a tip-over are investigated by the police and sometimes DCF.  They are treated like criminals because of the lack of awareness and sensitivity training out there as to the frequency and prevalence of tip-overs.  If you've gone through that, you are understandably skeptical and traumatized when it comes to talking to any other "agency" about the tip-over incident.  The CPSC needs to find a way to ensure everyone knows how and why to report hazards, injuries and deaths due to products sold in the U.S., to simplify the system and make it user friendly, and to make that widely publicized, easy to access, and encouraged, if not required, by every professional who interacts with children. 
6. Reports of tip-overs can happen years after the incident, due to the reasons outlined above, and many parents find out from other bereaved parents how and why to report their incident.  It's also important to realize that from the time an incident is reported and the time it is investigated and the report completed can also take many months if not years. And while you wait, every 17 minutes, another tip-over happens.  A tip-over that you could have prevented. A life that you could have saved. .
7. You'll never be able to get all the data you want about what the child was doing to cause the tip-over because the vast majority of the time, no one was in the room where the tip-over happened except for the child who was the victim.  For 99% of these injuries and deaths you'll never know exactly how that child was interacting with the furniture.  Assumptions can be made, but they are not facts. You'll never be able to know how many drawers were open, if the child was climbing, pulling, reaching, standing in a drawer, leaning on a drawer, or if they simply bumped into it while playing.  The answer is simply physics. So you need to stop asking for and waiting for that data, because you'll never get it and you already know that. The CPSC has told you this as recently as the May 10th meeting of this year. This is why we need to include testing with some and all drawers open, loaded with the things typically in drawers (clothes, toys) and to test with enough test weight to simulate the dynamic force of at least a 72 month old child climbing, pulling, or pushing on open drawers, and to account for the effect of carpet. 
8. Every single child that died because of a tip-over could have lived, and every single child that was not killed in a tip-over incident could have died.  Let that sink in. There was nothing special about any of these situations. Some call it luck, but you and I know it all comes down to physics, and every single situation was different. 
9. You will never know for sure how many times furniture you (the manufacturer) made has tipped over, and likely will never know about all of the injuries and deaths associated with your furniture falling.  So claiming you have no reports, or "only" one death (and seriously, if that "only" death was your child, how would you feel about me downplaying this topic in that manner), or a handful of minor injuries, is ignorant and dangerous. Why will you never know?  In addition to all the reasons I've already pointed out, consumers typically don't know who made their furniture. Nor do they care. They want it to be safe and they want it to be functional and aesthetically pleasing. They might remember where they purchased it, but they probably don't know who the manufacturer was, nor would they care until their child is injured or killed. Thus, you will never have accurate data on that, either.
10. Hiding behind the fact your costs will increase has to stop. We understand that changes to the safety standards can result in costly changes to your manufacturing processes.  We understand you are businesses and need to make a profit. We get that. But I can tell you that as a parent and a consumer, when we shop, we shop for furniture that is aesthetically pleasing, meets our needs, and is in our price range.  Whether I'm paying $100, $500, or $1000 for a dresser or other CSU, I'm going to pay a little more if it means I know it's been tested and passes a stringent safety test. In fact I might change my mind and choose your furniture instead BECAUSE I have proof that your furniture is compliant or goes above and beyond, what is required for safety.  So you can pass those costs onto the consumer at a reasonable dollar amount and absorb some of the cost for the greater good it will result in.
11. Complaining your competition will hurt your sales if you comply with the voluntary standard has to stop.  Victim consciousness (as in they won't play nice in the sandbox so why should we) has no place in adulting or in the development and enforcement of safety standards. It's immature, a cop-out, and cowardly. My violin is way too small for that. You do you. Don't worry about your competition. Do the right thing. Own it.  Be the change.  Lead the way. Do it in the ASTM meeting, do it for your constituents, do it because you want to be ethical and trusted by consumers. Do it to save lives and bring the number of injuries and deaths to zero. Do it because it's the right thing to do. You know how to do it.  You know how to market.  Market yourselves as the ones who do the right thing, who go above and beyond and put your money where your mouth is.  Prove it to us. Educate consumers about the tip-over epidemic and then explain what you have done to address it. Require retailers that sell your furniture to educate consumers as well. Don't mislead consumers. It will come back to haunt you. Trust me. 
12. No one is immune.  Even your friends and family.  I bet you all have every single piece of furniture in your home anchored, right? Why? Because you know it's not safe when it's freestanding right now. Until you are willing to allow a child you love freely interact with, climb, and play in a dresser/CSU or lie a child you love in front of any CSU/dresser and apply the current safety test to it, confident that it will remain upright un-anchored, the standard is not strong enough. Consider that. Tip-overs happen to the young and the old, to the wealthy and the poor, the highly educated and the poorly educated, in cities and in rural areas, in private homes and in public places, to people of all races and ethnic backgrounds, to people of all religious and spiritual beliefs, and to all genders. It could even happen to your family. NO. ONE. IS. IMMUNE.  
13. Tip-over is not a partisan issue.  I'm looking at you CPSC and Congress.  There is absolutely no reason every member of the CPSC and every member of Congress should not fully support the STURDY Act.  This is an issue that affects democrats, republicans and independents.  The only common denominator is unsafe furniture because there is no adequate or mandatory safety standard to prevent tip-overs of furniture.  We need the STURDY Act to protect consumers, especially the most vulnerable, our children.
14. YOU NEED US. Parent advocates and coalitions like Parents Against Tip-Overs and other consumer advocates are a rare breed.  For every one of us who are bereaved parent advocates, there are hundreds of others who are not comfortable sharing their stories and their pain publicly, or who can't because of their jobs or other reasons. That doesn't mean they don't exist and they don't want to see these changes any less than we do. We are here to represent them, too.  We are the voice of every person who has ever been the victim of a tip-over, whether it was a near miss, a minor injury, or resulted in a catastrophic injury or death.  We are connected to literally thousands of other parents who have had, or know someone who has experienced a furniture tip-over incident. We are experts, too, and we bring important perspective, insight, and ideas to the table.  You need us and we need you to end this epidemic.  We have to work together.  But waiting for some magical data, some magical number of injured or dead children that will make you finally have a sense of urgency about this will no longer be tolerated.  

It is my greatest wish that all members of the ASTM furniture safety sub-committee and the CPSC finally make a commitment to rapid and meaningful forward progress with this standard.  It needs to be a priority and it needs to happen now.  There is no reason we can't create and implement a stronger standard this year, with the two changes supported by the CPSC and Parents Against Tip-Overs, that being a change in the height to 27 inches and above and a change in the test weight to 60 lbs, and continue to change it for the better as additional testing (carpet, dynamic real world tests, open drawers, etc.) and innovative designs are created.  We have all the data we need right now to make a stronger standard. 

In the words of Nike, for the love of every child injured or killed by a fallen piece of furniture, JUST DO IT. You are out of excuses and frankly, out of time.  
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Updated 7/19/19

​My previous blog posts and landing page highlight the problems with the ASTM's subcommittee on furniture safety and the CPSC's reluctance to do their jobs in a timely and efficient manner to create a strong, effective, and mandatory furniture safety standard with regard to clothing storage units (dressers, wardrobes, etc.) in order to protect children from 100% preventable injuries and deaths. 

It's been nearly 20 years since the ASTM furniture safety subcommittee was founded, and over 14 years since Meghan died, and yet the statistics on the numbers of children injured and killed from tip-overs has changed very little.  This is despite there being a voluntary furniture safety standard in place, and one, that while it is stronger than it was when Meghan died (largely because of my and the advocacy of other parents), it is not yet strong enough to prevent tens of thousands of children from being injured every year and approximately 28 children being killed each year. The system for making meaningful changes to the standard drags on for years because of the industry's resistance.  It's resulting in needless injuries and deaths. It needs to change and it needs to change now.

Every 17 minutes someone in the U.S. is injured in a tip-over.  About every 10 days a child dies from those injuries.  From 2000-2017, 542 children lost their lives because of a tip-over, including my daughter, and hundreds of thousands have been injured, and those are only estimates based on what's actually reported to the CPSC. 

On April 10, 2019, the STURDY Act (Stop Tip-Overs of Unstable, Risky, Dressers on Youth Act, HR 2211, was introduced into the US House of Representatives by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of IL. You can read her press release here. I met last week with my Congressman James McGovern of MA, in early May, and he agreed to co-sponsor as well.  It currently has 20 co-sponsors (as of 7/19/19) and has made it through both the sub-committee and the full committee of energy and commerce and is on to the floor for a vote by the full house!  

On 6/19/19, the STURDY Act was introduced into the U.S. Senate by Sen. Robert Casey of PA, and currently has 3 co-sponsors. The bill number for the Senate STURDY Act bill is S 1902.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!  We need everyone to call their Representative and Senator(s), and ask them to sponsor and support the STURDY Act.  Here's what you need to know:

What will the STURDY Act do?

• It will require the CPSC to create a mandatory rule for free-standing clothing storage units to protect children from tip-overs
• It will cover all clothing storage units, even those under 30 inches (the current voluntary standard only covers units above 30 inches and children have died in tip-overs from shorter dressers)
• Require testing to simulate the weights of children up to 72 months of age
• Require testing measures to account for scenarios involving "real world" ways children interact with dressers including carpeting, loaded (not empty) drawers, and the dynamic force of a climbing child
• Mandate strong warning requirements 
• Require the CPSC to issue the mandatory standard within one year of enactment

Why do we need it?
Because after nearly 20 years, the ASTM furniture safety sub-committee, on which I sit, has been unable to make meaningful and timely progress on a voluntary standard that is adequate to protect children from tip-overs.  It's also only a voluntary standard, which means manufacturers choose whether or not they comply, and many do not.  This has resulted tens of thousands of preventable deaths and injuries every year.  We cannot rely on this process to protect our children. It did not protect my Meggie, nor the hundred thousand + injuries and/or deaths that have happened since she died. Quite frankly, the industry knows to to engineer tip-overs out of their products, they simply don't feel it's necessary and are putting profits ahead of protecting children. We need a better and faster way to force compliance with a mandatory standard that will protect children adequately,

Who supports this bill and how can you help?
On May 6, 2019, a letter about the tip-over epidemic and the STURDY Act, was sent to every member of Congress, and a press release entitled "Consumer and Medical Groups Applaud New Legislation to Prevent Furniture Tip-Overs" was also released to the media.  The consumer groups who are lending their full support to this legislation include the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kids In Danger, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Public Citizen, and Parents Against Tip-Overs (PAT), of which I am a founding member.  

PAT is a group of parents who all lost their children to a tip-over incident.  Each of us has our own organization, like Meghan's Hope, but we felt that as a nationwide coalition, we'd have a louder voice, and indeed, that is what has happened.  Together with our partners in advocacy, we will manifest the changes we have been fighting for individually. We are in our infancy, but our advocacy has been loud, powerful, and effective.  We are fighting this fight so no other families ever know the pain we do.  

But we need your help.  You can join the chorus and advocate for safer and mandatory furniture safety standards, and now is the time. The most effective way you can help us make furniture safer and protect kids (beyond sharing the message of Meghan's Hope) is to contact your Representatives and Senators in Congress and tell them you'd like them to support the STURDY Act and why. It's quick and it's easy!  Here's how:

How to contact your Congressional Representative (it's quick and easy!)
You can help by contacting your Representative in Congress and asking them to support the STURDY Act, HR 2211 and your Senators to ask them to support S 1902, the Senate version of the STURDY Act.  Share Meghan's story, your own tip-over story, or just that you want Congress to take action to protect children from tip-over injuries and deaths. 

It's easy to do if you've never done it before.  Phone calls and in person meeting requests work best. Emails are okay, but they get thousands every week and it can take many weeks before they are even read and addressed. You can find your representative and senator(s) and how to contact them here. Once you know who they are, you can go to their individual Websites.  We recommend you call their D.C. office since that's where all legislative requests end up getting forwarded to. 

When you call:

• Ask the aide that answers the phone that you want your representative to co-sponsor the STURDY ACT, HR 2211 or your senator to co-sponsor or support the STURDY Act S 1902, and tell them why it's important to you (share a story of a friend, relative, or Meghan's story if you don't have a personal connection to a tip-over (read the info on the STURDY Act fact sheet). Provide your contact information in case they want to talk to you more about it! 
• Refer to the Press release of 5/6/19 (above) that they received the same day.
• Refer them to the STURDY Act fact sheet (link is also in the letter they received) for more information. You can use it as a guide for your call if you have a copy in front of you, but they will also have the same info if they click the link via their press release.
• If you feel comfortable/strongly about the issue, request an in-person meeting with them as well when they are in your home state.  It's great to have a personal connection and to be able to hand them a copy of these documents as well (print out the text of the bill, the fact sheet, and the press release to bring with you).  

Please share!
Lastly, I would love if you would share this information/blog post with friends, family, and social media contacts.  Consumer demand drives change and we need your help to save lives and put an end to the tip-over epidemic.  

Thank you. 

Fourteen Years.  It's been fourteen years since my beautiful Meggie died.  At the time, I really thought this was a fluke.  That she was the only one this ever happened to.  That if I could just get the attention of parents, stores that sell furniture, pediatricians, and the media to share it, she'd be the last child to die from a tip-over.

I was SO wrong.  I quickly learned she was not the first, or the only, and sadly she was not the last child to be killed by a falling dresser.  I was sure that if retailers knew of the dangers, they'd surely want to sell furniture anchors right next to the other childproofing supplies.  Turns out, most didn't.  And still don't.  Even today.  Even though they are sold online on their websites, they are not consistently found in the big box stores where most parents shop for childproofing supplies.  

I thought that anything sold and marketed for kids' use, including furniture, and especially juvenile furniture, like Meghan's was, was held to a safety standard of some kind.  We live in the United States. Someone must be making sure things sold in the U.S. are safe for consumers, right?  Isn't that why we have a Consumer Product Safety Commission?  Aren't there rules about safety with regard to manufacturing so kids don't choke, get lacerations, or killed by things like a dresser falling on them?  

It turns out that's just not the case. It wasn't then, and it really isn't now, either.  At least with regard to furniture tip-over.

It also turns out there WAS a voluntary furniture safety standard in place in 2004 when Meggie died, but it didn't protect her.  There is one in place today that is better than it was then, but still voluntary, and still not strong enough to prevent injuries and deaths to children (or adults for that matter)  Every 17 minutes someone is injured in a tip-over.  About every 10 days a child dies.  There have been 542 reported deaths due to tip-overs from 2000-2017, and yet there is still only a weak voluntary standard, meaning manufacturers don't have to comply, and many don't.  It's clearly not strong enough, because children are still dying and being injured.  You can read the entire report from the CPSC here.

I've come to learn that the CPSC is underfunded, bows to industry when it's mandate is to protect consumers, and seems to vote along party lines when consumers at risk come from all racial, ethnic, age, and political backgrounds.  I can assure you, furniture falls because it's unstable when a child is interacting with it.  It's not the child's fault, nor the parent's if a piece of furniture falls and injures or kills the child.  The child is doing what they developmentally are supposed to do.  The parent's, unless they throw the furniture onto their child deliberately, are either unaware of the danger, or are aware and falll prey to the "it can't happen to me because..." syndrome, which is all too common and potentially a deadly decision for their child. 

The CPSC is also under a "gag" order with regards to their ability to recall unsafe products, because it section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act.  This can also result in deadly consequences. The two most recent recalls this rule delayed recalls in and resulted in additional injuries and deaths that might have otherwise been prevented included the IKEA MALM dresser recall and the Fischer Price Rock n Play recall. 

The ASTM furniture safety sub-committee has had 19 years to make a strong and adequate furniture safety standard and to make it mandatory.  Yet they have not.  The standard has changed very little in that time, because the industry stonewalls and drags their feet, always asking for more "data", all the while tens of thousands of children are injured, some catastrophically, every year, and over 542 children have died.  That is their data, but it's apparently not enough.  To be fair, some manufacturers do comply with the voluntary standard, and they go above and beyond with their testing, but they are but a few of the hundreds if not thousands of manufacturers out there. 

We also know that the data reported to the CPSC is only estimated, because the vast majority of doctors and parents don't know how to or why they should report injuries from tip-overs to the CPSC, and the reports they do get are generally only from the 100 NEISS hospitals, medical examiners who know to put tip-over as related to cause of death on a death certificate, or savvy parents who do the research and find out how to report a tip-over to the CPSC or through saferproducts.gov.  I can tell you just from the interactions I have through social media and conversations about tip-overs with everyday people, near-misses and minor injuries happen way more often than what is reported in the official data, and even more severe injuries and some deaths have gone unreported. I'm sure there are more deaths that are also not captured for that reason. 

To attempt to circumvent the voluntary standards process, which is clearly too slow to make meaningful change that would save lives, advocates like myself have turned to our lawmakers for help.  We've had bills related to tip-over in Congress 3 times so far.  The Katie Elise and Meghan Agnes Act in 2005 and 2008 and the STURDY Act in 2016 and again introduced in April of 2019.  It is time to force a mandatory standard that will actually dictate how to manufacture more stable furniture (Clothing storage units) that is inherently more stable and by virtue of that, much less likely to tip when a child interacts with it. 

Stay tuned for more on the STURDY Act and how you can help! 

One of my greatest frustrations is trying to understand why some people choose not to anchor their furniture and TV's, even when they know the risk.  I've been advocating for anchoring furniture for 14 years now. I honestly thought by now, everyone would know, anchors would be widely available, furniture would be safer, and the statistics would show tip-overs were rare.  That is not the case. The numbers have not significantly changed at all.

The reality is the vast majority of Americans don't anchor their furniture and TV's, even if they are aware of the potential for tip-over.  A recent report published by Consumer Reports, "Furniture Anchors not an easy fix, as child tip-over deaths persist" highlights this frightening reality. 

Even after explaining the statistics that every 17 minutes someone is a victim of a tip-over, and that approximately every 10 days, a child dies from injuries due to a tip-over, and sharing my daughter's story, as I did in a blog post a few years ago that went viral, entitled Be With Me, Just for Today, far too many people, once they learn of the dangers of furniture and TV tip-over, convince themselves their children are not at risk.  

Are you one of them?

Common excuses include, "I'm always with my child", "My child is not a climber", "My child knows not to do that", "My furniture is too heavy to tip", "I don't want to (or can't) put holes in the walls or my furniture", "I don't have the right tools", "It's too expensive", "It takes too much time", "My (husband, parents, etc.) won't let me or doesn't think it's necessary", "It's not likely to happen, so why spend the money?", "It mostly happens to toddlers and my child is older than that now", or, "We have expensive, good furniture, it's safe."  Sound familiar?

Here's the thing, furniture is inherently NOT safe.  It's not manufactured to be safe, it's manufactured to be "pretty" and functional and sold for profit.  There are no mandatory safety standards, no required testing to determine if a dresser, bookshelf, or any other type of furniture is likely to tip-over, and no widespread availability of anti-tip restraints where most parents shop.  We think, because we live in the U.S., everything we buy must be safe, right?  Especially if it's for kids.  But that simply is not a guarantee. Especially for furniture.

Even if the awareness of the possibility of tip-over is there, there are false assumptions made by far too many parents and consumers that can lead to devastating injuries and death.  The only way to protect your child is to be pro-active about prevention.  The harsh reality is that neither manufacturers, retailers, nor the government, at this time, care whether or not your child lives or dies when it comes to furniture tip-over.  It's 100% up to you.  The point of the title of this post is that there is NO argument against anchoring furniture.  Right now, it's the only way to prevent a tip-over.

Some people are not motivated by statistics or words or even someone else's heart-wrenching story. Perhaps they are more visual.  Sometimes, pictures have a greater impact. Some people are moved by music, not words or pictures. I ask you to take 3 minutes to watch this video. Then, perhaps you will share this blog post with anyone who still does not understand the importance of anchoring furniture and TV's.  Who doesn't fully grasp the potential consequences. Who thinks it only happens to "someone else".  

I am that someone else.  I am just like you.  I'm a parent who loves her children.  Who thought I did all the right things to childproof my home.  Who thought buying furniture made for a nursery was safe.  You, or they, could just as easily be that someone else. If you don't anchor your furniture and TV's, the next statistic could be your child, or one you know and love.  

 I've gotten a lot of questions the past few days about why IKEA recalled millions of MALM dressers this week, under pressure from the CPSC, parent advocates like myself, and other consumer safety groups.  
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Some people are praising IKEA for taking an unsafe piece of furniture that has killed several children and likely injured countless others, off the market (in the U.S. and Canada, it is not a worldwide recall), and offering refunds or exchanges in addition to the free anchor kits they offered last year, when the initial safety alert was issued about the MALM dressers easily tipping and posing a danger to children.  All of this after several children died when a MALM dresser fell on them.

Others are criticizing IKEA, and those who supported the recall, saying it's the consumer's responsibility to know that furniture can tip over and the parents' fault for not using the enclosed anchors.  They think the recall is unnecessary and unfair to IKEA. 

Still others believe it's common sense to secure all dressers (if only that were true), implying it's the fault of the parents if their child happens to suffer an injury or death from a tip-over.  

As luck would have it, I have answers!  Well, I have MY thoughts and opinions, and I'd like to share them with you. As a child safety advocate and a mom who knows what it's like to lose a child to a dresser tip-over. You might actually be surprised by what I have to say.

First, it's vitally important that people understand the tip-over risk does not apply only to IKEA furniture!  Nor does it apply only to dressers!  ANY furniture that is not appropriately secured to the wall has the potential to tip over on a child or even an adult, and cause injury or death. It doesn't matter how big, heavy, or how expensive or cheap it is.

As a parent who has lost a child to a dresser tip-over (not an IKEA piece, but a top of the line piece from a juvenile furniture manufacturer), I know first hand the very real dangers to your kids of not being aware that ANY piece of furniture, no matter how expensive or well made, can tip-over.  

Parents, consumers, anyone who has furniture in their homes must be educated that furniture tip-over is a very real and very common cause of injury and even death to children.  Every 15 minutes someone is injured in a tip-over accident. EVERY 15 MINUTES, of every hour, of every day, of every year.  On average a child dies from a tip-over every two weeks. It could very easily be your child if your furniture is not secured. 

Far too many people still think it can't or won't happen to them.  Read my FAQ page to see what I have to say about excuses I've heard for why people don't secure their furniture once they learn of the dangers.

Second, I do not believe that recalls are generally the answer, because then parents think that ONLY the recalled style or manufacturer of the specific piece of furniture that is recalled is unsafe, and may mistakenly think that they don't need to secure other furniture because they didn't hear about that on the news. That is very dangerous thinking, and part of the reason I did not support a recall at first.  

I still very much feel that any story about this recall needs to be accompanied by statistics and stressing that it is not just IKEA furniture that poses a risk. It needs to be coupled with education about the statistics and importance of anchoring all furniture to the wall to prevent tip-over. 

Third, I'd like to state for the record that I don't think lawsuits are generally speaking, helpful in raising awareness either, although part of the catalyst for this recall is the fact several children died from THIS dresser specifically falling on them.  By the same token, I don't judge those parents who have chosen to sue IKEA after their child was injured or died, as some families choose to do. Every parent must do what they feel is right for them and their family and they and only they can speak to what motivates them to pursue legal action. 

People often asked why I didn't sue the manufacturer of the dresser that killed my daughter.  Her dresser did not come with a warning label or anchors.  It was purchased in 1997.  Anchors were not sold in stores. There was no social media for me to learn about this danger. It was not taught in childbirth classes or baby care classes.  It wasn't in parenting books along with other childproofing tips.  

I was encouraged to sue Ragazzi after Meg died by several people.  I called them and reported what happened, but I had no intention of suing.  I just wanted them to be aware so they could make design changes, add warning labels, and sell their furniture with anchors.  I did not think suing would solve the problem.  It wouldn't bring Meghan back. It wouldn't be the best use of my time, knowledge, or message.  I knew the problem was much, much bigger than one manufacturer.  Keep in mind, this was over 11 years ago, before social media, before the level of awareness that exists today about the dangers of tip-overs. Social media and the internet has done a tremendous amount to raise awareness, and I'd like to think Meghan's Hope was a significant part of that movement. 

IKEA has deep pockets, is a very well known manufacturer, and is loved for their very popular, inexpensive furniture, and the families whose children lost their lives under their MALM dressers (or any other piece of IKEA furniture) have shattered hearts.  They want IKEA to accept responsibility for their part in their child's death.  They want them to use their platform as a massive retailer and manufacturer to educate consumers about tip-overs by displaying secured products, selling anchors both with and separately from furniture, and putting safety information on their website and in their stores.  That's probably why they chose to sue IKEA or pressure them for a recall, I presume, at least in part. Sure, financial compensation is probably also a factor, and I don't fault them for that, either.  They want to use their voices and their child's story for change, just like I do, and unfortunately, media coverage and lawsuits are what it takes to get attention for your cause in our society much of the time.  Lawsuits are also costly to companies and impact the bottom line and stand to damage the reputation of such a widely known brand, so they can be motivating to companies to comply with the demands of the consumer when the voices are loud enough. 

Fourth, the manufacturer does have a responsibility. ALL manufacturers, not just IKEA.  A responsibility to make safe furniture.  A responsibility that should take precedence over profit.  It shouldn't take a lawsuit or negative media attention and it certainly shouldn't take children dying, for manufacturers to see that.  To understand it.  To put the safety of kids first.  It should happen because it's the right and ethical thing to do.  

Unfortunately, it seems it does take all that, and more, to motivate manufacturers to take more responsibility for making safer products, in this case, furniture.  Our kids had to pay with their lives.  They only have to pay with dollars to make these changes. Dollars they could, in theory, pass on to the consumer.  

If only they could live a day in our shoes, if only they could live through that God-awful day our kids died because of furniture THEIR company made.  I bet they'd see things differently then...  especially if it were their child...

So, why the recall?
So, if the IKEA MALM dressers (and other furniture from IKEA) comes with warning labels and wall anchors, why do they need to recall it?  Parents should use those anchors and it wouldn't be a problem.  Right?

In theory, yes.  Except that's not what happens the majority of the time.  If it did, 96 people, mostly kids under 5, would not be the victim of or injured every single day from tip-overs. Kids would not still be dying from falling furniture. So I'm sorry, but that argument simply doesn't fly.  It is my dream that some day it will, but it is not true today.

You must also look at the bigger picture. This recall goes beyond just a recall of a particular brand of dresser from a particular manufacturer.  The implications and potential outcomes of such a massive and visible recall could result in necessary and positive change, not only for the furniture industry and the safety of furniture through mandatory testing and standards, but through the awareness that comes from it,  and improve the safety of our children, driving down those statistics and someday, perhaps eliminating injuries and death from falling furniture. 

Here's why this recall is a good thing for the industry and for the safety of children everywhere:

• IKEA has made this particular dresser for over ten years. They have not provided warnings and anchors with their furniture for the entirety of the time this dresser has been on the market.  There are more than 70 cases of injuries and seven known children who have died directly because an IKEA piece of furniture fell on them since 1989.  At least 3 in recent years from this specific style of dresser.  ONE child dying is too many! 
• This dresser is poorly designed and thus, inherently unstable, because of it's dimensions and construction. It is not the only piece of furniture out there with design flaws, and IKEA is not the only manufacturer that makes inherently unsafe or unstable furniture.  
• While any furniture can tip, inherently unstable pieces are much more likely to topple, especially when you apply the forces of a child attempting to climb or even just open all the drawers and put a little pressure on the middle of the top drawer.  Go ahead, go do that with every chest of drawers you have in your house, regardless of size, weight, or manufacturer.  If you can't tip it with a little pressure, Simulate the amount of pressure a 50 lb child would exert pulling or climbing on your bookshelves, entertainment center, or dressers/armoires.  In other words, push hard on the middle of that top drawer.  Let me know how many you could tip and how much pressure it took.  I bet you'll be surprised. 
• The dresser may no longer be owned by the person who bought it.  It may have been purchased at a yard sale or consignment stores, handed down by friends or family, freecycled, sold on Craigslist or another resale site, or left out by the side of the road for free, and the instructions with the warnings and anchors were likely not included in those transactions.  Thus, the person who ended up with that dresser may have no idea that it came with a warning and anchors or that furniture can even tip over and injure or kill kids. 
• Not everyone reads the warnings. Not everyone who reads warnings, adheres to them or believes that the furniture could a) tip-over and b) injure or kill a child.  This is a major obstacle in education and prevention.
• Maybe the people who purchased the furniture did not have kids at the time, so they did not think they needed to secure it. What happens when you have kids later, or have friends or family over who have kids?  Chances are the owners are not thinking about those anchors that came with the dresser or the warnings on the directions months, or years later.
• The anchors that come with the furniture (and this applies to ANY furniture) are not likely actually tested to see if they can hold the weight of the furniture, plus everything in/on it, plus the weight of a child climbing or pulling on it.  It's unclear if those anchors actually work under stress!   This needs to be standardized, universal to all furniture, regardless of purpose, size, or weight, and mandatory.  It needs to apply to anchors sold with furniture and those sold at stores. 
• IKEA has been pressured by lawsuits from the families of children killed by their MALM dressers or other IKEA furniture, by government agencies that advocate for consumer safety like the CPSC, and from parent advocates like myself and other parents who have lost children to furniture and TV tip-overs, and child safety groups.  
• There is a voluntary international furniture safety standard, that in part, requires warning labels and anchors be sold with storage furniture of certain dimensions, IKEA's MALM dressers did not adhere to this standard.
• IKEA is not recalling the MALM line in other countries including China and Australia.  Shame on them.  Just because there is less pressure and awareness in those countries about the dangers of tip-over, less pressure to recall furniture, educate families, and take responsibility for the safety of their consumers, does not mean they should risk the lives of children in those countries when they know it's unstable and dangerous.  

Perhaps the best thing about the IKEA MALM recall is that it is raising awareness. It is generating discussion.  It is bringing the issue of furniture safety and tip-over prevention to the table. It's been on the news, it's been discussed at dinner tables, parent groups, and the water cooler.  It's turning the wheels of positive change.  

It is showing manufacturers that we want and demand furniture that is safe, that complies with the current voluntary international safety standards, and we are demanding manufacturers take responsibility for the safety of the products they sell.  It's not just about IKEA, but by holding IKEA responsible, it sends a message to other manufacturers as well.  It's telling IKEA and the industry at large that it's not okay that kids have been injured and died because they made poorly constructed and unstable furniture.  They could have redesigned it.  They could have made it safer.  They chose not to.  That's not okay.  We demand change. Our children's lives depend on it!

The dream that needs to become a reality, so no other parent ever has to know the pain I do

As a tip-over prevention advocate, and bereaved mom, I'd love to see that voluntary safety standard be expanded to include specifications for furniture safety and stability, specific testing standards that include fully loaded and weighted furniture taking into account the weight and physics of a child attempting to climb on it, and testing of anchors for weight compliance and safety.  

I want to see manufacturers and retailers take a pro-active role in educating consumers about the dangers of tip-overs by including information and displays in their stores of properly secured furniture with statistics about how often tip-overs happen and how easy they are to prevent.  I want to see anchors not only included with every piece of furniture and TV sold, but I want them sold in stores everywhere.  I want them to be as well known as a necessary child-proofing tool as outlet plugs are. 

I have worked closely with the CPSC for several years on tip-over prevention and awareness and am a community advocate for their Anchor It! campaign.  Meghan's Hope has been about awareness and prevention from the very day she died.  And yet when I see comment threads on my own social media posts or the articles about this massive recall, I get so frustrated when people who don't see the bigger picture.  I hope now, you do see that bigger picture, at least from the perspective of a bereaved parent, and see the wisdom in the recall and the potential benefits it could bring.

Please, #AnchorIt.

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I was recently invited to speak at a Safe Kids conference on Meghan's Hope and what I've learned as a parent advocate.  My goal was to not only educate the Safe Kids members and the other public safety members who were in attendance about the statistics and realities of tip-over, but to educate them on the importance  of educating the community about prevention.  One of my other goals was to share what I've learned about what motivates parents to take action and what doesn't work.

My presentation was an hour long.  I began with Meghan's story.  I asked how many had heard of Meghan's Hope or had seen the CPSC's tip-over video.  Very, very few raised their hands. I was surprised and saddened.  I'd expected at least 1/4 of those in attendance to have seen the video.

I asked how many had tried to tip the flat screen TV in the hotel rooms we were staying in or opened all the drawers in the low and long dresser in each room the TV sat on. Crickets. No hands went up.  "Come on people!" was my response. I was shocked!  Not one of them, even those who had young kids with them, even thought to try.  My eyes were opened wider.  Safe Kids members didn't know!  They didn't get it.  If they don't know the dangers, then those the parents they work with probably don't either. Of course, this is why I was invited to present.  Thank goodness I was!  To be fair, I've learned that those who work for Safe Kids coalitions often have a specialty area like car seat safety, fire or water safety, or bicycle safety and often compete for grants to further the education and training in just one specialty area.  They are not, like I expected they would be, as a rule, generalists when it comes to child safety education.  

For the record, the TV's were secured, with adhesive (? super glued) to the top of the dresser. I could not tip it.  This made me happy.  Of course they were secured so no one could steal them, not because the hotel thought they could fall on and kill a child, but secured was secured. The dresser, with all 4 drawers opened and very little (two finger) pressure in the middle of the top drawers, tipped forward VERY easily.  This made me sad.  The hotel was a Great Wolf Lodge. They catered to kids and families.  I pointed out during my talk that one of the 4 children who would be victims of a TV or furniture tip-over every hour could be here right now. It could be THEIR child.  It could happen in THIS hotel.  They might even be one of the children that die ever 2 weeks from a tip-over.  I could see the light bulbs start to go off in people's heads and through the expressions on their faces.

As I went through my presentation, I shared the statistics, I shared what motivates parents and what doesn't. I shared why social media is so important for getting safety messages out to the public, along with in person education, demonstrations, and community support.  I explained the barriers, the excuses parents give and how dangerous that thinking is.  I explained how I teach, what I teach, and how going to that place of emotion and fear first, and then following it up with facts and prevention is the winning formula for motivating most parents to act on securing their furniture and TV's. 

Sadly, my embedded videos did not work. I really wanted them to see that CPSC video and the Real Moms Urge you to Anchor it video! I gave them the resources, websites, and links to view them and encouraged them to follow up. I'm not sure they will.  I had placed my brochure and the CPSC's Anchor It! flyers at every place that also had the website they could go to for more information.  When I ended, with a plea that they please, anchor it, I received generous applause. 

After I spoke, the coordinator told the story of how she heard me speak last summer at the National Safe Kids conference. It was there she learned of the dangers of furniture and TV tip-over, called her husband after I spoke and told him they had to secure their furniture.  It was why she invited me to speak at their local conference.  She knew it was an area of knowledge deficit among the public in their state and community and among the safe kids community.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my story and the message.

A few attendees came over to thank me personally after I spoke. A few first responders shared with me their experience with being first on scene to a tragedy involving a child (one was a tombstone tip over at a cemetery) and how it was nearly a career ending call for him he was so traumatized by it. He had tears in his eyes as he told me about it.  He said the debriefing he received was the first their department did and it saved his career. 

This is a really important aspect of these type of tragedies. Those who provide medical care to our children before and after they die, or who have the tremendous heartbreaking responsibility of calling the resuscitation efforts off and telling parents their child has died, are deeply impacted, too.  They grieve, too, and they need support and even counseling to help them process.  I have no idea how those who work in pediatric trauma hospital ER's do it, but I'm eternally grateful for the work of our first responders and ER staff who do care for our children with love and compassion, and carry their life and death in their hearts forever, too.

After everyone left for the break and next session and I began to pack up my stuff, I was saddened to see quite a few attendees had left the literature I passed out behind when they left the room.  At first I was frustrated and momentarily angry.  Why? Why would they not take the information? Why would they not at least keep it as a resource? Did they not care?  Did they STILL think it couldn't happen to them or in their community?  Did I not reach them with the things I said? Was I not an effective presenter?

As I gathered the materials left behind, another bereaved mom came to me. She had tears in her eyes.  She told me I was telling her story, too. The same, but different.  She asked to take all the leftover materials. We talked for quite a while that day, and again over the next few days, about the challenges of being a parent advocate. About being a bereaved parent.  Her child died in a bicycle accident, he was struck by a drunk driver.  She works on bicycle safety now.  The day I spoke was the 10th anniversary of her son's funeral. 

As is often the case, bereaved parents welcome other members of our "family" with open arms. We hugged, we cried, we shared stories and experiences.  She offered to translate my brochure into Spanish, a tremendous gesture.  I had brought one of my books with me.  I wasn't sure why I hauled it with me. I didn't need it.  After talking to her, I pulled it out and dedicated it to her and her son Joshua.  I gifted it to her.  That was why I brought the book, unbeknownst to me when I left my house. We will be in touch.  I don't believe in coincidence...

I attended several of the conference sessions over the next few days, and several more people came to me to thank me.  Many admitted they were moved to tears during my presentation.  Many have young children or grandchildren and had already shared the information with spouses and children and it was priority 1 for when they got home.  I began to think maybe I reached more people than I thought.

As I sit on the plane flying home, I feel grateful.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to share Meghan's story, to educate the educators about furniture and TV safety.  To honor my daughter's memory and share my hope that no other child die from this type of preventable tragedy.  I am also grateful for a new friend, a fellow bereaved parent, and that our paths crossed when they did, at just the right time. 

I am also acutely aware, again... still... that we have a lot of work to do.  There are still so many people who have no idea how easily, quickly, and often TV's and furniture falls on children. They have no idea that there are simple and easy ways to stop it from happening.  There are still millions of children at risk.

It takes a village to keep kids safe.  YOU are the village.  We must continue to share this message. We must continue to educate. Even if you know the dangers, you know hundreds of people who likely don't know.  If you tell someone, they tell someone, and they tell someone... The same is true when you share it on social media.  Clicking share is easy and quick and it could save a life.  Share Meghan's Hope. The website, the Facebook page. Share the CPSC's Anchorit.gov page. Share the videos. Share my resource list. 

No one knows about these dangers unless someone tells them.  Once they know, they need to understand no one is immune.  Prevention is the only way to protect a child from a tip-over tragedy.  4 children every hour.  Over 90 children every day are victims of  tip-over accidents!  More than 30 children die every year. One injury, one death, is too many. Trust me.  I know.

Please. Share Meghan's Hope. Share this information. You never know who will read it who needs it. You never know how many lives you could save.  But you will save lives.  You can spare other families my pain. It's quick. It's easy. 

Please. Anchor it.

Imagine what it would be like if you could have a superpower.  What it would be like to be a superhero?

Imagine that superpower involved saving lives:  the lives of children.   Perhaps even the life of your own child or one that you know and love.

You don’t have to imagine.  You can be a safety hero, too!   I’ll show you how!



I’ve just had the honor of attending and presenting at the Safe Kids Worldwide Injury Prevention Conference, known as PREVCON, in Washington, DC.  Their tag line for the conference is “where safety heroes meet” and the graphics are done comic book style.  It’s clever, and has a ring of truth to it.  For this is where the safety geeks of the world come together, driven by a passion for which you should thank each and every one of them.  They live, work tirelessly, and breathe to keep YOUR kids safer.  They are passionate about injury prevention and safety for the children of the world.  



Preventable injury is the #1 cause of death to children all over the world, including here in the United States.  ALL of these injuries and deaths are preventable.  But how?  (Hint:  it involves you.)

The recipe for injury prevention is really a simple one, but for some reason, getting people to come to the table and try the recipe, and then take it back to their own homes and families to share it remains a challenge.  That is why PREVCON happens.  How do we teach the world the recipe for child safety, as based on the latest research and statistics? 

That’s an important point.  We don’t make this stuff up.  The things that are injuring and killing millions of children all over the world are well documented and researched.  Every statistic is a real child and a real life.  Every death is a child someone loved who was robbed of their ability to grow up and do great things.  All because of something that could have been prevented. 

If only…  

If only their parents knew.  Believed it was a danger.  Took steps to prevent it.  Told others what they knew so they’d be able to keep their kids safer, too.

I’m going to give you the basic recipe.  How lucky are you?  Hey wait.  I just did!

First:  Education and Awareness
You can’t prevent injury if you don’t know how it occurs or why it’s a danger.  So the first step is to make people aware of the dangers that lurk in and around the home as well as outside of the home.  Some of these are obvious and others are more “hidden” dangers.  They are still dangers and kids are vulnerable to injury and death when parents are unaware of the danger.

Second:  Understanding “it” (accidental injury or death) absolutely CAN happen to you. 
It does not happen to other people.   No one ever thinks it will happen to them.  I sure as hell didn’t!  It doesn’t happen only to “bad” or neglectful parents.  It knows no race, money, educational background, or status.  It happens to good, loving, attentive, educated parents every single day.  If there exists a danger, and you have not taken steps to prevent it from potentially injuring or God forbid, killing your child, YOU and YOUR CHILD are vulnerable to it.  Period.  End of story.

Parents and grandparents need to get their heads out of the sand and stop thinking these things happen to “other” people.  They need to stop being judgmental of the parents it does happen to, because it could just as easily happen to them if they’ve not taken steps to prevent “it”, whatever “it” is.  No one is immune.  No one is with their kids 24/7, so don’t tell me you are always with them and never out of your sight so they are not at risk.  You are lying to yourself.  I’m sure you use the bathroom, shower, get the mail, and sleep every single day.  There are times you leave your child in the care of others. 

Third:  Take action to prevent it. 
Knowledge is only power if you put it to use.  Once you understand the dangers and *get* that it could happen to your child, you need to take steps to prevent it from happening.  This could be in the form of some manner of childproofing, buying a proper fitting bike helmet and making them wear it, keeping them in the back seat until they are at least 13 and in a booster seat until they are both tall enough and mature enough to sit upright in the car and have the seatbelt properly positioned at all times.  It could be teaching your kids not to be distracted by their phones or music when walking and crossing the street, never to text or talk when driving and for YOU to set the example by doing the right thing all the time yourself.  This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things you need to consider to keep your kids safe. 

Fourth:  Share it
Pay it forward.  Once you understand a particular danger or hazard, know how to prevent it, and have taken the proper steps to make your home and child safer, share what you’ve learned with your friends and family.  Do your part to keep other kids safe.  It takes a village.  Be part of the village and help it grow!

You know what my superpower is.  It’s really not me at all, it’s my beautiful daughter.  It’s sharing her story, our story, and her beautiful face.  It’s about preventing tip-overs.  It’s about my knack for passionate education so no other parent ever have to know my pain or bury their child from something a few dollars and a few minutes could have prevented.  

So what’s your safety superpower?  Maybe you have more than one!  It could be that it was born of an experience you had with a child.  Perhaps an actual injury or maybe a near miss and you and your child were “lucky”.  Maybe, like me, you experienced the worst loss, your child died from a preventable accident.  Maybe, you just realized something you never knew about before and it really resonated with you and you have a desire to share it with others. 

If you have a story or an experience, share it.  Other parents identify with real life stories.  When there is a face and a story to go with a statistic, it “sticks” more readily.  It makes more sense.  It makes it real.  Others can learn from you!  It’s like sharing a really good and yummy recipe.  Everyone gets to partake of the goodness!

So when you personally take action to make kids safer and learn about things you did not previously know about or understand as a danger, share it!  You can be a safety hero, too!  You could save countless lives.  You could be the reason someone else’s child has the opportunity to grow up and do great things instead of being denied that chance due to a preventable accident.


What color will your cape be? 

 

 

A guest blog post by Keir McDonald


Helping children choose safe passwords and screen names

By Keir McDonald MBE

Children will need to choose safe screen names and passwords as soon as they start exploring online.  But when it comes to choosing screen names and passwords, many children, especially younger children, need some guidance. Protecting children and the family’s personal information should be top priority.

Here are 4 easy tips parents and teachers can use to help children choose and maintain safe screen names and secure passwords for social media and other online applications.

Explain WHY Screen Names Should Not Contain Personal Information

When choosing a screen name, first be sure to let kids know they should only share content that they are comfortable with others seeing. This includes all information that is public via a screen name or profile.

 This is a good time to encourage children to think about any and all public information about them online.  While it may seem like a long way off, explain how future employers, college admissions officers, team coaches, and teachers may view postings and even a child’s screen name could impact future relationships.  Encourage children to think about the impression that screen names could make now and in the future.

Strong Passwords are the Foundation of Online Security

Next, teach children how to choose passwords that are difficult to guess, including making use of capital and lowercase letters, as well as numbers.

A password should be easy to remember but tough to hack. One easy way to remember passwords is to replace a letter with a similar-looking number. For example, using a “1″ in place of an “L” or a “5″ in place of an “S” are easy ways to replace a letter for a number.  Never use “Password” as the password, or things like phone numbers or addresses. 

Encourage your child to maintain a password logbook for both you and your child to have access to, and try to change passwords together every 6 months or so.

Help Your Child Manage Passwords and Keep Them Safe

For younger children, make sure you know all screen names and passwords so you can monitor Internet use. Especially with young children and pre-teens, knowing their passwords for all social media accounts, email, gaming sites, computer, tablet, and phone is important. This will enable you and your child to maintain an open line of communication about what they are doing online and to gain trust in technology use over time.

Do Not Choose Screen Names That Contain Personal Information

Your child should choose screen names that do not include personal information, such as first name, birth date or last name. Begin by helping your kids understand what information should be private so they can make safe screen name choices.

Information such as full given name, Social Security Number, street address, phone number, and family financial information is all private and should stay that way.

Help your child think of a screen name that is fun and impersonal that he or she can remember.

Regardless of age, it is important to always keep an open line of communication with your child about Internet safety. Talk to your children about the dangers of sharing a password with anyone besides you, even their best friend.  

About the Author

Keir McDonald MBE is founder and Director of EduCare, an online training solutions company that specialise in child protection, exploitation and online safety, and bullying and child neglect. EduCare is associated with both Kidscape and Family Lives and customers include over 4000 schools and colleges and 12000 pre-schools as well as councils, NHS, charities and more.

Did you know that 81% of tip-over fatalities occur in the home?  That every 15 minutes a child is injured from a falling piece of furniture or a TV?  That's over 70 children every single day!

It happened in my home.  It happened to my child.  It could happen to yours.

Yesterday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched a new tip-over awareness and prevention campaign called Anchor it!  They also launched a great new website www.anchorit.gov where you can find a wealth of information and resources about the frequency and demographics of furniture and TV tip-overs. They explain not only why you should anchor it, but also how to anchor furniture and TV's so they can't tip and fall and cause injury or even kill children.  Check it out, then share it with every parent, grandparent, and teacher you know!

If you make or sell furniture, there is important information on how you can be a partner in anchoring it, not only to keep consumers safer in your store, but how to be an advocate for making sure their children are safe once the furniture and TV's you sell them leave your store! 

The statistics are startling

• Three children every hour are injured in a tip-over accident. That's 72 children EVERY DAY.
• 42% of tip-over fatalities occur in the bedroom
• A child dies an average of every 2 weeks from a tip-over accident. That's 26 children every year.  Even one death is too many.  Trust me. 
• An estimated 38,000 people are injured every year from a fallen piece of furniture or a TV.  Adults can be injured or killed too, not just kids!
• 2/3 of TV and furniture tip-over accidents happen to toddlers
• A TV can call with a force of a thousand pounds (think 1 bowling ball for every 10 pounds something weighs, plus the force of the fall.  Would you want even one bowling ball falling from a height of 3 feet onto your child's head? Now imagine a hundred bowling balls falling on your child at once...)
• Every 15 minutes, someone in the U.S. is injured in a tip-over
• The majority of injuries involve head injuries.  Sometimes they result in lifelong disability. Sometimes they are fatal. 

Not sure if or why you should anchor it?  Watch this video from the CPSC.  Another new PSA that shows how to anchor furniture:  Anchor it!  30 second PSA

Meghan's Hope is proud and honored to be a partner and adviser to the CPSC on this amazing National awareness and prevention campaign.

My first interaction with the CPSC was shortly after Meghan died.  I wrote to the then commissioner, notifying him of Meghan's death and inquiring as to why there was not greater public awareness of the dangers of furniture tip-over. He replied, offering his condolences but also stating the CPSC was looking into this danger more closely.

Fast forward a little over ten years and a lot of advocacy work, I am proud and honored to be a consultant, ally, and advocate of the CPSC's new Anchor it campaign.  It launched yesterday morning!  Hopefully, you saw a news story, tweet, or Facebook post about it.  It is my hope that today, you share this blog and the Anchor it website on your social media channels and with everyone you know who has a child under ten in their home or who visits their home.  Use the hashtag #anchorit 

This is an amazing awareness and prevention campaign and a life saving message but we need your help to get the message out there.  We need to educate parents and get this information and these resources into their hands so they can anchor it and get on top of tip overs before their child does.

Meghan's Hope is also a valuable resource.  Meghan's story is a compelling one to motivate parents to take this danger seriously.  Our resource lists provide information on what furniture and TV anchors are available and where to buy them as well as what not to buy!  

Nothing I do will bring my Meggie back to me, but if she can save another child's life, her death will not have been in vain.  Please, anchor it today!