Learning About Car Seats

Written By: Alejandra Sanchez-Surman

On December 8, 2018, 9 parents and 11 children came to a workshop on car seat safety hosted by the Mid-Hudson Migrant Program. During our home visits in the fall, we found out that many of our migrant families did not realize the importance of having a car seat for their children. Many of the children did not have a car seat and the families were not able to afford one.

 In response to this, we developed an informational workshop in partnership with the Sullivan County Child Passenger Safety Seat Program, who provided free car seats for children of our families. Parents who attended were fascinated to learn about the car seats and had many questions. For many of them, it was the first time they had seen a car seat!

 During the workshop, we taught the parents that using a child safety seat is not only required by NYS law, but can highly reduce the risk of fatal injury for infants, toddlers and children under the age of 12 years old. We started with guidelines for choosing the correct seat for their children. Each parent had the opportunity for hands-on work with the seats, learning how to use and install different types of car seats. The children who attended joined in as volunteer passengers as their parent learned to strap them in properly.

The parents and were very thankful for the workshop and for the car seats provided. They were provided with a folder to take home with important information and reminders.  It was great to know that they learned so much from the workshop!