Jane Kim
Staff Writer
When you hear the work Mattel, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For most people, it would be toys, toys and more toys. Mattel is the maker of famous toy brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price.
Recently, they have run into some trouble; a few of their products have been recalled from stores due to choking hazards, injuries and lacerations. The items that have been recalled are inflatable balls, Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway, several models of high chairs and numerous models of trikes. So far from the inflatable balls, there have been 46 reports of incidents where the valve of the inflatable ball on these toys came off. 14 of these reports included the valve being found in a child’s mouth, and three reports of a child beginning to choke; no injuries have been reported.
The Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway was classified as a choking hazard and two reports of a wheel detaching from a vehicle have been acknowledged, but no injuries have been reported. Laceration hazards have been seen in certain models of high chairs; children can fall on the pegs on the rear legs of the high chair resulting in injuries or lacerations. There have been 14 reports of incidents, including seven reports of children requiring stitches and one tooth injury.
A teacher at the Butterfly School at Riverside Church of Christ Mrs. Sandra Sigler says, “As a pre-school teacher, children’s safety is very important because I have the responsibility of many children, in my case, twelve toddlers. I’m responsible for everything that is around them that is in our classroom environment; the toys, any kind of manipulatives; everything that is around us has to be safe and age appropriate. So we have to be very careful with that.”
Most parents would say that their children’s’ life is even more important than theirs. “Unfortunately, I can be over-protective at times and I’m that mom who maybe feels a little bit on edge when my children are sitting down in the bathtub and I’m worried that they will fall and like hit their head. ‘Sons, watch the street, watch the street. Wait for momma.’” says Mrs. Fryman.
A young child could bite and chew on toys and accidentally swallow it and choke. If they are playing with something and they trip, they could fall on the toy and hurt themselves. The age most at risk to get injured from toys is probably young children who have just learned how to walk, they are now so open to their surroundings and are trying to figure out ways to explore- it is harder for parents to keep track of them.
An average of 468 children younger than one die each year in the United States as a result of home injury, the majority of which are due to choking and suffocation incidents. For infants, choking and suffocation cause most unintentional home injury fatalities.
Many students here at CHS have younger siblings that may be a nuisance sometimes, but deep inside older siblings are actually very protective of their younger brothers and sisters.
“My nieces’ and nephew’s safety is so important to me. I see them every day and have gotten very close to them. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to them,” sophomore Sarah Gordon said. “They are so important to me and I would do anything to make sure they’re okay.”
Sophomore Maria Zuniga remembers when she had an accident involving child safety.
“When I was younger, one evening after coming out of the shower and putting on my PJ’s, I decided it was a good time to get my American Girl camping tent out. It had been put away in a very high shelf and the only way I could reach it was by getting on a stool,” Zuniga said. “My hair was dripping water on the stool and suddenly [I] slipped, cracking the back of my head open on a wooden shoe tower. Upon arriving at the hospital, the doctor took one look at me and called me a piggy bank.”
The only time that Mrs. Fryman remembers a toy recall was when a few years ago, there was a nation wide recall on Sesame Street Toys and the lead paint on them.“ I can remember hearing about it on the news and it said ‘ get on such and such website, Mattel’s website and take a look.’ …I just immediately got on the website and was looking and going through the list.” Mrs. Fryman said. “And I’m like ‘Oh my goodness, he has that Big Bird. Is that the same Big Bird?’ and so I mean I basically took all those toys and threw them away, I couldn’t even give them away! I thought that I’d much rather throw them away and be safe rather than sorry because if anything happened to my kid, I would just feel so regretful and guilty that I hadn’t taken it seriously.”
Something as important as children’s safety shouldn’t ever be compromised, no matter the circumstances. As Whitney Houston said in one of her songs, ” I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.”
