British researchers report that on the weekends when the last two books of the series came out, young people made far fewer visits to an Oxford emergency room. . . .
The effect, it turns out, was significant. The researchers looked at how many children ages 7 to 15 went to the E.R. with musculoskeletal injuries on the 2003 weekend after "The Order of the Phoenix" was published, and on the 2005 weekend of "The Half-Blood Prince." They compared these numbers with admissions in a three-year period.
On the Harry Potter weekends, they found, the admission rates went down by almost half - even though each was a pleasant summer weekend when business in the E.R. would ordinarily be good.
The authors see the possibility of broadening the benefit. "It may therefore be hypothesized," they wrote, "that there is a place for a committee of safety-conscious, talented writers who could produce high-quality books for the purpose of injury prevention."
The effect, it turns out, was significant. The researchers looked at how many children ages 7 to 15 went to the E.R. with musculoskeletal injuries on the 2003 weekend after "The Order of the Phoenix" was published, and on the 2005 weekend of "The Half-Blood Prince." They compared these numbers with admissions in a three-year period.
On the Harry Potter weekends, they found, the admission rates went down by almost half - even though each was a pleasant summer weekend when business in the E.R. would ordinarily be good.
The authors see the possibility of broadening the benefit. "It may therefore be hypothesized," they wrote, "that there is a place for a committee of safety-conscious, talented writers who could produce high-quality books for the purpose of injury prevention."
See the original study at BMJ.com: Harry Potter Casts a Spell on Accident Prone Children
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