Sucking the fun out of summer—for safety's sake

When I was a kid, we called it being a killjoy. But today, my kids call it fun sucking—spoiling the pleasure of engaging in dangerous activities. So you can call us fun suckers, killjoys, or just spoilsports, but as summer begins we thought we'd share our opinion on six activities we think kids should skip this summer so they can live to complain about you:

Riding an ATV. From 2004 through 2008 more than 140 kids under the age of 16 died each year and another 40,000 or so were seriously injured in incidents related to all-terrain vehicles, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Kids generally do not have the strength, agility or common sense to keep themselves out of danger when riding over unpredictable terrain. And the weight of these machines can easily crush young, vulnerable bodies in a rollover.

Jumping on a backyard trampoline. On average, about 100,000 kids are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with trampolines. They are so injurious that the American Academy of Pediatrics put out a series of warnings in response to a growing number of incidents.

Setting up an inflatable swimming pool. They're cheap and quick to set up, and they are silent backyard killers. From 2001 to 2009, 209 drownings in inflatable pools occurred; the majority (94 percent) were children younger than 5. Without the proper layers of protection, which can be prohibitively expensive, we recommend that you skip these.

Playing with fireworks. Young children should never play with fireworks, even sparklers. According to the CPSC, approximately 3,440 kids younger than 15 wound up in the emergency room because of fireworks-related injuries. See our recent report here.

Water walking balls. In the category of "What were they thinking?!" are water walking balls—clear plastic spheres that you can climb into and use to "walk" on water. They are airtight and can't be opened from the inside so they pose a suffocation risk. The CPSC has recently warned against them after learning about two serious incidents.

Riding without a helmet. Research has shown that bike helmets reduce the risk of brain injury by 85 percent. But helmets aren't just for bikes; they should be used when riding skateboards and scooters too.

—Don Mays