Aqua Dots - what's the problem?
By djbtol
@djbtol (5493)
United States
November 9, 2007 6:42am CST
There is a lot of media attention recently regading the 20 month old boy in the U.S. who ate some of the Aqua Dots craft/toy and was apparently made sick by a chemical breaking down into something like GHB, the date rape drug. Certainly this is a terrible thing and everyone is glad that the little boy is fine now.
This instance certainly makes everyone think. Many are trying to place blame either on the government, or the company in China that makes the product.
Have you ever had a 20 month old in the house? They are mobile and they love to put everything in the mouth. You have to be really careful what they might find. I wonder what the minimum age is as stated on the Aqua Dots product.
I saw the mother and the doctor on a TV interview. What is interesting is that there is no accusing finger, not even the slightest, pointed towards the mother. There are many items in every home that were not made for eating, and if you choose to eat them, you will get sick. If there is no expectation that a parent will protect their little toddler from these items, I suppose we will need a law to ban all of those things from the home!
The media and culture around us tend to look at these issues from one perspective. We better retain the ability to think and analyze beyond that level.
djbtol
1 person likes this
2 responses
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
10 Nov 07
A few children have become ill, one very ill, in the past week in Australia with the same product.
I am not exactly sure what the toy was, but it was being played with by the correct age bracket.
When a parent buys a toy that is recommended, say for 0 to 3 years, we assume that is perfectly safe to be played with without total supervision.
Over here, the blame has been laid 100% on the Chinese company that used a toxic chemical in a childs toy. The toy has been completely withdrawn from the market.
Toys sold for children aged 0 to 3 should not have any small parts that can be swallowed.
@djbtol (5493)
• United States
12 Nov 07
From what I have seen, these are small parts. I do not know the age rating, but I doubt it was 0 to 3. These are like little beads. You put them together in a pattern to make designs. Then you spray the design with some kind of liquid that makes them all stick together.
I think parents (and even older siblings) share in the responsibility.
Although it is easy to put all the blame on the Chinese, I think that companies buying products from China have a responsibility to be checking. That must certainly be clear now, since all the problems have hit the news. It may not be politically correct to say it, but the Chinese culure is different than some other countries and different is not always better.
Thanks for your response. Do appreciate it.
djbtol
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
14 Dec 07
I agree and where young children are concerned (even older ones) we have to assume that anything that is within reach of them it's going to end up in their mouth at some point.
As for the company making the 'toys' I think the company that purchased the parts are equally responsible but although I feel for the parents and child I must say I still do my best to keep small object or anything that may be dangerous out of the reach of little one - I now have grandchildren in the house regularly and also a 16 year old that found out what happens when you mess around with ink pens - yep, he bit down too hard and blue ink exploded all over his mouth and down his chin. Now that was funny but resisted the urge to laugh and simply said, "how many times have I told you to keep things out of your mouth that are not ment for your mouth"
