For many years, it has been known that playing on a trampoline can hurt you, badly.  But the use of them has continued.

Today, the world’s largest professional organization of pediatricians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, made a very clear recommendation:

The story of how trampolines came to be in our back yards is actually rather chilling.  

The sport of trampoline jumping was until some years ago, an official NCAA sport across American colleges.   But after a series of permanent brain and spinal cord injuries came to light, the NCAA banned trampolines.

When sales to colleges plummeted, the makers of trampolines decided it was time to market them to suburban families with back yards.  And, it worked.

Trampolines now dot the American back yard, and kids love bouncing on them.

The trouble is that a lot of kids ended getting hurt, many very seriously.

And, adding netting and padding has done nothing to reduce the chance of getting hurt.

In 2009, nearly 100,000 (that’s right, 100,000) kids got hurt.

Nearly 20% of them hurt their neck, spine, or brain.

I have personally seen children suffer injuries that they never recover from.

Some advisories talk about making sure only one child is on the trampoline at a time or that skilled spotters are present.

The AAP, and Advanced Pediatrics, however, have a much simpler message-

We have known the danger too long, the call to end it is now clear,

The time  has come to put our kids first and put away the trampoline.

Dr. Arthur Lavin

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