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Some toys are safe to give kids this Christmas, others aren't. How do you tell?
For adults, the twelve days following Christmas are ones of drinking, carousing and merrymaking until Twelfth Night signals the end of the Christmas season. At least that's the way it's been historically since early Christian times.
For kids, it's more likely to be the length of time between opening the presents on Christmas day, and those presents either breaking, being traded away for something else, or discarded through boredom.
It's also, for some kids, a dangerous period. Every year, thousands of kids end up in hospital casualty departments with injuries caused by toys that are either unsafe, or weren't being used the way they were intended.
Every year, the NSW Office of Fair Trading inspects 500 stores and markets across the state, checking to see whether toys and other general goods comply with Australian safety standards.
This year they found 113 types of dangerous toys, mostly toys with small parts that could be easily inhaled or swallowed. They found:
And a partridge in a pear tree. (No, not really).
According to the NSW Office of Fair Trading, increasing numbers of dangerous kids' toys are finding their way onto shelves, particularly in discount stores. That's because, as with so many other manufactured goods these days, they're made in China and imported into Australia. Many of China's factories manufacture toys to standards less rigorous than Australia, and there's nothing to prevent toys that don't meet Australian standards being imported. Most of these cheap, unsafe toys are sold in metropolitan discount variety stores rather than in specialist toy stores or large department stores.
But kids are also susceptible to Australian-made toys that are manufactured to Australian standards, if they're the wrong type of toy for that age group.
The kids most at risk are those aged four years and under because they have a tendency to put things in their mouths and can swallow or inhale small parts.
The NSW Office of Fair Trading recommends parents should always read the label and any safety warnings to make sure they're safe for young children. The toys should be non-toxic and non-flammable.
They advise parents to:
Older kids are much more likely to be given something that will last the distance bikes, cricket bats, basketball rings, tennis racquets, rollerblades, scooters and skateboards.
They won't choke on tennis balls. But they can still be seriously harmed by rushing out and getting stuck into rollerblading, skateboarding, biking etc if they don't know how to use the use the equipment correctly, according to Smartplay, a sports injury prevention program run by Sports Medicine Australia.
In Victoria for example, about 1000 kids a year end up in public hospital emergency departments with injuries from these toys, says Smartplay.
Too often, kids rush into using them without knowing how they should be used, without wearing the proper safety gear, and without preparing their body for the activity.
Smartplay recommends that if a product is designed to be used with safety equipment or protective clothing, make sure you include it as part of the present.
Safety gear should be the right size and fit comfortably but firmly. Don't buy sporting equipment that they will 'grow' into. If you give a bicycle, the child must have a helmet. Skateboards, inline skates and scooters need helmets and protective clothing, like wrist guards, gloves, knee and elbow pads.
That way, grown-ups won't have to spend Twelfth Night down at the hospital casualty department.