Something about the death of 13-year-old Teron Francis demands answers to questions that are not being asked. Likewise, the senseless accidental deaths of 2-year-old Jonathan Sanchez, who fell six stories, and 7-year-old Carlos Santiago, who was struck by a hit-and-run driver, should be prompting a huge public campaign for safety guidelines for the city’s children – but they’re not.

On April 15, Teron visited Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, where he had been a dental patient, for a root-canal procedure. Because an adult did not accompany him, he was rescheduled. Three days later, he returned with his mother, and they were both admitted – his mother for hypertension and Teron for headaches and a fever.

I have no medical training, but I’ve always been aware of the danger of infections of the mouth, or anywhere around the mouth, that might infect the brain. As a teenager, I was warned about pimples that might develop infections that would travel to my brain. Now, someone at Bronx-Lebanon must have been aware of this danger. Surely, someone must have examined young Teron and been aware of his infected tooth. Did the dental clinic that determined that the teenager needed a root canal give the mother a prescription for an antibiotic? Any infection must be cleared up before surgery. Did the mother wait three days before returning to the hospital because the potential seriousness of an infection was not conveyed to her? Could the cost of the antibiotic have been a factor? No one’s talking about this case, because both the parents and the hospital have engaged attorneys.

Perhaps the biggest question I have is: How can a hospital be prevented from treating a seriously ill child without parental permission, yet a girl can get an abortion without it?

Planned Parenthood’s Web site says:

“If you live in New York State, which does not have either parental consent or parental notification laws, you do not need parental consent to get an abortion, and your parents will not be notified if you choose to have one. As a matter of fact, there are confidentiality laws in New York State that prohibit providers from telling parents if a minor has received any family planning services, including abortion and birth control.”

Does this then mean that after an abortion, should a minor incur an infection, which is not uncommon, she will be refused treatment at a hospital unless she has her parent with her? Just asking.

Then of course we’ve had a series of horrific accidents recently involving at least four toddlers who fell out of windows, yet many New Yorkers still believe that it’s the responsibility of the landlords to provide the necessary guards. Not necessarily.

The city’s window-guard laws state that parents must notify the landlord if they have any children under 11 living in the apartment; they must let the landlord install the guards; they must not remove them or make any changes to them. The onus of their children’s safety is on the parents.

The city has a Windows Falls Prevention Program, which lists safety guidelines that every parent who lives in a building with more than two floors should follow. Nevertheless, few window guards are visible in Manhattan’s high-rise apartments. When I lived on the 17th floor of Waterside Plaza, I never opened the huge windows that swung out sideways for cleaning because I was terrified of an accident befalling my toddlers.

Anyone who thinks those accidents happen only to minority children and in less affluent neighborhoods must not remember the death of Eric Clapton’s poor son, Conor, 4, who fell to his death from a 53rd-floor apartment, or Yankee pitcher Tommy John’s 2-year-old, Travis, who miraculously survived his fall from a third-floor window of a New Jersey house.

Seven-year-old Carlos Santiago ran across the street to buy ice cream and was run over by a hit-and-run driver, still at large. Every parent’s nightmare was realized in that accident, and my heart goes out to his parents and to all the families that have suffered the untimely deaths of their young.

When I think of the open windows of my childhood, the fires in my tenement building; a burst appendix at age 8, and being run over by a bike while crossing the street, I feel immensely blessed to have avoided serious injury. I also learned an invaluable parenting lesson that helped thwart the potential disasters in my children’s lives. I practiced eternal vigilance, rarely let them out of my sight, and kept them as healthy as possible.

Children are gifts that must be guarded constantly. No worldly distraction is worth the loss of their presence in our lives.