By Clinton Martin
Falling prey to an online predator? Not likely to befall an Amish child. Getting run over by a wagon wheel? That’s a risk an Amish child must learn to face safely. Some risks that “English” (non-Amish) children face is foreign to Plain youth, but on the other side of the coin, Amish children face certain risks that mainstream society around them wouldn’t encounter.
To make growing up Amish safer, understanding the unique risks that Amish children face on farms and around “cottage industries” (small manufacturing shops located at home) a five-member board of Amish men has been established. It is called the Pennsylvania Amish Safety Committee. The men are appointed by their fellow Amish peers using an election / ballot system.
The committee works in partnership with Penn State University to develop training sessions, educational seminars, and town-hall style meetings where Amish parents can interact with Penn State’s various entities, including the university’s Children’s Hospital (located on site at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center) and the university’s local agricultural extension (Lancaster County Cooperative Extension.) The committee of course presents the information and activities in PA Dutch, the native language of the Amish. Though all Amish can and do speak English, as their second language, community and family events feel more comfortable when they are in the German dialect.
Penn State Health Children’s Hospital Pediatric Trauma Coordinator Beverly Shirk, who works closely with the committee, has noted that the three most common injuries to Amish youth seen at the hospital are falls (especially through hay-holes used to drop feed down to the animals below,) heavy equipment accidents (skid-steers, forklifts, etc.) and lastly large animal interactions gone bad (kicked by a cow, bucked by a horse.)
The committee worked with Penn State to develop a cover for the hay-holes. It is a netting product, which was financed by a grant from the nationally renowned farm safety organization, Marshfield Clinic. The covers were thus distributed free of charge to Amish farmers. Another safety initiative which came out of the committee was a backup camera for skid-steers. The committee is still seeking a grant to make these cameras widespread, but some farmers have already purchased them, and the Ag Extension distributed a small number as well. Lancaster County Cooperative Extension educator Kay Moyer is well-known among the Amish, having developed a close and trusted bond with the community over the last 30 years. She is a registered nurse, as well as working with the safety initiatives in the community. Her efforts center around presentations in Amish schools, educating the children on farm safety. Her “Farm and Home Safety Program” distributes instructional coloring books, poison control stickers, and other safety-centered content that the children can take home and show their parents. Moyer has also been instrumental in making reflective vests ubiquitous among the Amish, when they are walking down the road, riding their scooters, or (somewhat less common today, riding their rollerblades.)