No, at least not those designed for home use neither the big ones for backyards nor the little ones put indoors. The only safe way to use a trampoline is in an athletic facility with the trampolinist hooked into a harness that a certified athletic trainer can yank upward if the athlete is about to fall and with spotters scattered around the edge to push the jumper back toward the center if he or she is about to fly off the device entirely.
A study published in July in the journal Pediatrics found that both full-sized and “mini” trampolines are dangerous, especially for children under 6. That’s partly because little children are top heavy, which means that when they fall, they tend to land on and cut their heads, said Brenda Shields, the lead author and research coordinator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Columbus Children’s Hospital in Ohio. When adults and children ages 6 to 17 crash, they’re more likely to injure and break their legs. Using data from the National Electronic Surveillance System, run by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Shields’s team studied trampoline injuries reported between 1990 and 2002. There were many more injuries (22,997) on big “tramps,” but both are dangerous, she said. On big trampolines, having multiple users at the same time is a major hazard, she noted, as is placing the trampolines near fences, trees, electric wires, and hard ground surfaces. With little trampolines, in addition to the hazards of falling there is the danger of simply tripping over the thing.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that trampolines never be used in the “home environment,” in routine physical education classes or outdoor playgrounds.
“Trampolines are not safe for kids. Don’t use them,” advised Kristi Kangas, head of the Injury Prevention Program at Children’s Hospital in Boston.