KEVIN BALDEOSINGH
My son Kyle's first word was "Car". His second word was "Bang". So I'm hoping this isn't a harbinger of things to come.
Earlier this week, six people died in a two-vehicle collision. One of the drivers was 34 years old; his older brother had also been killed in a car accident 11 years ago. But, according to one of his relatives, he liked to "drive hard" and, despite being enjoined to slow down and despite the lesson of his dead brother, it seems he couldn't overcome his addiction to speed.
The fact is, boys are harder than girls when it comes to preventing injury and even death. Before post-natal care improved in the 20th century, most populations had equal ratios of boys and girls by age 10. But, biologically, 106 males are born for every 100 females–it's as though evolution anticipated the higher male death rate. But now medical technology ensures that more male babies reach their fifth year, which creates its own social challenges. But that is a different issue.
Despite surviving infanthood, boys are still more likely than girls to die by either accident or violence–indeed, these are the two leading causes of death among young people, for the simple reason that young people don't generally suffer ill-health. And boys are more likely than girls to do risky things. That is the basic reason they are more likely to be injured or killed (although you must keep in mind that either of these outcomes are statistically unlikely).
Kyle is now 18 months old and, already, there are manifest differences in his behaviour as compared to his sister Jinaki, when she was his age. For example, Jinaki only started running a few months after she learned to walk steadily. With Kyle, it was a few weeks and, already, he is trying to sprint. Jinaki was also not too interested in climbing even when she became agile enough to do so, but Kyle is already mounting the dining-room chairs and trying to climb up the bookshelves (to pelt down books, naturally).
What does this bode for his teenage years, especially when I have to start lending him the car? In respect to vehicular accidents, over 90 per cent of fatalities are men and, even when women are killed, they usually aren't driving. But I don't think I need to worry too much (which, of course, doesn't mean I won't). The 34-year-old driver who died last week had a 15-year-old daughter, meaning she was born when he was just 19 years old. His 27-year-old pardner, who was also killed in the accident, had two children, aged one and 11. That means that he became a father when he was just 16 years old. To me this is significant, because men who assume that they might not live long tend to be more reckless, which includes becoming fathers while still very young.
I, on the other hand, became a father very old. And, although my son is very much a typical boy, I don't think he is likely to be reckless. Or so I fervently hope.