A critical approach to educating fifth- and sixth-grade students about medicine safety. Modeled after the FDA’s “Medicines in My Home” program.
Support for the development of this
education material was provided by
Resources
RESOURCES TO KEEP YOUR FAMILY SAFE
INFORMATIONAL SHEETSAND AT-HOME ACTIVITIES
FAMILY CHECKLIST
MEDICINE SAFETY CHECKLIST TODOWNLOAD AND POST AT HOME
Digital Flipbook
In this original story, Asha and her friends Rebecca and Nicky team up to plan an awesome science fair project. Along the way, they find themselves making surprising choices about science and medicine safety.
READ WITH YOUR CLASS ►Learning Activity
Use this learning activity with your child today to explore the facts about storage and disposal of OTC medicines at home.
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Medicine Safety Facts
#1
Many adolescents think OTC drugs are safer than those prescribed by a doctor.
#2
In 2012, poison centers managed over 296,000 exposure cases in children ages 6 to 19; over half of these cases involved medication errors and misuse.
#3
Approximately 10,000 ER visits per year for medicine overdose in individuals younger than 18 are caused by adolescents self-administering OTC medicines.
#4
In 2012, poison centers reported over 70,000 cases involving medication dosing errors in children 12 and younger.
#5
More than 60,000 young children end up in emergency rooms every year because they get into medicines while their parent or caregiver is not looking.
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Share Your FeedbackPhotos: mom looking at thermometer, © Hero/Media Bakery; kids looking at computer, © Tim Pannell/Corbis.
SOURCES: 1Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS). Teens in grades 7 through 12, 2005. http://www.drugfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/PATS-Teens-Full-Report-FINAL.pdf. 2Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Rumack BH, Dart RC. 2011 Annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 29th Annual Report. 3,4American Association of Poison Control Centers. 5Up and Away and Out of Sight. http://www.upandaway.org/