Friday, November 09, 2007
Back to Playing with Wooden Spoons?
I feel I am at a loss with respect to the number of hazardous children's toys that have been recalled in the past few months. On the surface, it seems as if a boycott of cheap toys made in China will do the trick, but I think I might be fooling myself with that notion. Is it just China? Should I boycott any toymaker who has been a part of the recent recalls? I don't really know, but it is the only starting point that I feel I have. As a concerned parent, I will do what I can to find toys that are free of lead and hallucinogenics, but should it really be entirely up to me? Every toy on the shelf should meet that criteria. We obviously do not have a system in place that protects our children from these potentially deadly health risks. The Parent Bloggers Network has teamed up with the the Consumer's Union to help raise more public awareness of these issues, and let let store owners know how serious this issue is. Until something is done about this problem, it is up to us. This holiday season, do your best to avoid mass produced crap from China, and make an effort to support the local economy, and buy toys you feel you can trust. Your child's life may depend on it.
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11 comments:
It really is kinda scary, isn't it? For the longest time I felt as if I were some kinda closet racist for questioning toys from China but the number of recalls cannot be ignored - there is definitely a problem with the production standards in that country.
This is going to be a tough battle, but one worth fighting.
I hate cheap plastic shit at the best of times, but we all have some of it in the house. I am determined to keep it to a minimum, because this is just plain scary.
Kids are pretty happy with paper and boxes and pots, pans and spoons anyways - might be a good idea - go back to basics. Have a good weekend.
It is DAMN scary and while I can't say we don't have any cheap (hopefully not killer) toy crap, I know we won't be getting any more.
amen!
Date rape drug? I thought I was hallucinating when I saw this news story. Total alternate universe.
Over the summer, my three year old had a blast tossing bottle caps she found for a previous nights party into a metal tin plate. It's the simple things that occupy them for hours. As a society though, we tend to buy the flashy toy items that they play with for a bit then leave discarded in the playroom.
I'll never forget reading the advice that the best toy for a young child is: a ball. It teaches hand-eye coordination, arm strength, taking turns, and more. Keep it simple, moms and dads!
It's stories like this that make me glad I'm so picky about our kids toys. We still have some plastic stuff, though - i've learnt a lot since the kids were newborn!
One of the more expensive toys, The Thomas The Train sets have some pieces that have been recalled. We have these wooden toys. It makes me angry that all these toys are unsafe.
When my son was small I had no money and he didn't have many toys. His favorite past time was playing in the kitchen with my baking pans and the wooden spoons and spatulas. So much for expensive toys.
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