Lawmaker Looks To Ban Dangerous Display Hooks

[-..__...]

The insanity from the nanny staters never ends...

:eyes:

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Beacon Hill lawmakers are reacting to a story you saw first on WBZ. A South Boston representative says he wants a law to protect our children from dangerous hooks in stores around the Bay State.

Metal display hooks -- they can be found in almost any store, and State Representative Brian Wallace of South Boston wants to ban them in Massachusetts because across the country, children like Noah Willemin are getting badly injured.

The 2-year-old fell on a display hook holding shiny bows. "He had lacerated his eyelid," explained Noah's mom Renee.

Gigi Zinkel, 5, was injured by one of these hooks after being bumped by another child. "I was crying and the bleeding was all over the floor."

"The hook went through her lip, through her gum," said Gigi's mom Laurie Zinkel.

We first told you about these children last week. After seeing our story, Wallace -- whose own daughter was injured by a metal hook -- wants to require stores to have safer displays. "I don't care about what it costs. Do it once. It's all you have to do. Save some lives. Save some eyesight. Save someone from brain injury. It's a no brainer for me."

http://wbztv.com/consumer/retail.display.hooks.2.694144.html

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. KEEP YOUR EYES ON YOUR KIDS, PARENTS

That's the no-brainer here.

My kid was VERY hyper. Couldn't sit still for anything. One time (he was about 2) I took him to the grocery store, put him in the seat in the cart (they didn't have seatbelts on them them like they do now) and when I was looking at the meat, he climbed out and fell into the meat display. The butcher and the store manager came running over and were apologizing and fussing all over the kid (who wasn't hurt and was actually enjoying the attention).

Guess what? He didn't get to go back to the store again until I KNEW HE WOULD STAY IN THE CART.

Like I said, no-brainer. Was it convenient for me to leave him at home so I could go to the store? No, but no one ever promised me being a parent would be convenient.

[cynatnite]

2. Yes, until it is your child that is injured...

A little research goes a long way, too...

http://cbs2chicago.com/investigations/hook.accidents.display.2.650699.html

This has been a growing problem for some years now.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Jesus, fucking watch your kids. It's that simple. The world isn't made

of marshmallows and rounded corners.

[cynatnite]

5. Accidents happen...

and if there are ways to prevent them shouldn't we do it?

I consider myself a good parent, but my three kids have been hurt on occasion and it tears out my guts. It happens to the best of parents. If there are better ways available to help protect our children...shouldn't we do it?

The article I posted in this thread highlighted several cases of kids nearly losing their eyesight. If this kind of thing can be prevented in the future shouldn't we do it?

[Hugabear]

7. How far do you take it?

Should we also ban pens, pencils, and scissors? After all, there are plenty of accidents involving these items.

Should we require rubber padding on all walls and floors? Kids fall down and run into things.

Honestly, how far does it go?

[cynatnite]

9. When do you stop protecting children?

It's more than just telling parents to take care of their kids. Even the best parenting in the world can't protect a child 100% of the time, but if spending a few bucks can prevent a child from losing an eye...shouldn't we be willing to do it? Shouldn't we be willing to go the extra mile for the children in this country?

[Hugabear]

11. You're talking about a helluva lot more than simply "a few bucks"

Banning & replacing display hooks would be a massive undertaking.

Once again, I'm sure that there are more children who are injured by pens and pencils than are injured by display hooks. Should we ban pens and pencils, and come up with a more child-friendly method of writing?

[cynatnite]

15. Actually, they make pencils and scissors with kids in mind...

Also, I would ask that you provide proof that more children are injured by pens and pencils rather than your 'gut feeling'.

This isn't about getting a piece of lead stuck under the skin...this is about the potential loss of eyesight in a child. Are you really okay with that?

[Hugabear]

22. Please provide me stats with how many children are injured this way

Is it just a couple of incidents that get a lot of publicity?

Or is there a nationwide epidemic of children running into display hooks?

[cynatnite]

24. Less than a minute of googling...

http://cbs2chicago.com/investigations/hook.accidents.display.2.650699.html

I posted this earlier in the thread. This was one of a few thousand hits when I googled.

[Hugabear]

25. 55 cases

55 cases in the entire country.

Sure, it's cause for concern, and there's nothing wrong with suggesting safety measures.

But to come out with an outright ban?

And once again, how far do we take it? Should we just assume that children are going to be running amok throughout any given store or business, and demand that businesses take measures to prevent any injuries that such unruly children might encounter?

[cynatnite]

32. It said they have no firm stats, but there is a growing problem...

I don't think an outright ban is necessary. Someone on the thread suggested moving them to a higher position out of the reach of children. I thought that sounded like a good idea.

[Hugabear]

43. The OP was about an outright ban

I think that's why there are so many sarcastic replies to the OP.

[TwilightGardener]

19. Honest to God, is there an epidemic of one-eyed children somewhere

in America that I'm missing? No? Then it's not enough of a statistical risk to worry about.

[BigDaddy44]

33. You're exactly right

We need to protect them at all costs. I think bicycles, playground equipment, skateboards, roller blades...they should all be banned.

We should establish a law that all children sit in a padded room at all times, being monnitored either via closed circuit tv or a personal "minder".

[-..__...]

8. The world is fraught with hidden dangers for children from the time they wake up...

until the time they go to bed.

Concern is one thing... over reaction is another.

Why not just dress your child in a hockey helmet, safety goggles, mouth guard and one of those padded suits they train attack dogs with?

[cynatnite]

13. I have this glass coffee table in my living room...

The edges are fairly sharp...

When my kids were born and when my oldest daughter had her kids...I didn't want to get rid of it despite the potential danger. We used to use small bits of rubber for the edges until companies began making products specifically designed to help protect children around the house.

There were latches for the cabinets, door knob covers, locks for toilets, and so on. It's called childproofing and is done not just in homes, but also in many public places as well. Some stores have little rubber end thingies on the end of hooks. One of the craft stores I frequent has them on theirs.

I'm trying to figure out why people here of all places aren't willing to protect children...especially when it comes to such potentially debilitating injuries like this.

[MilesColtrane]

37. Invariably, some kid, not being watched by his parents, will pull that little rubber thingie...

...off the end of the hook and choke on it.

Children are in more danger riding in a car to the mall then they are once they get there.

We'd better ban cars too.

[Beausoleil]

20. Or like this?

[SidDithers]

26. A hyper-hypo!....

:rofl:

Sid

[TwilightGardener]

16. I agree with "accidents happen"--I don't agree with banning or redesigning

everything that a child has ever: run into, fallen on, eaten, gotten caught on, tripped over, cut himself with, burned himself on, splashed himself with, etc. I used to be a poison-control nurse for a brief period, and there are a whole lot of inattentive parents/guardians out there. There are a whole lot of parents who DON'T consistently lock up their gun bluing, their copper sulfate for pond algae control, their blood pressure meds, their toilet bowl cleaners, their windshield de-icer, and so on. It's a dangerous world, almost any object can harm a child in any sort of mishap or freak accident or moment of inattention. It's part of parenthood--you take the risk when you have kids. You can do your best to control your child and their home surroundings, but banning common and useful public items like store display hooks is just crazy--we're getting into the realm of "what's next". Shopping carts? Lawn and garden implements being displayed under locked glass?

[cynatnite]

23. And I suppose the parents of the girl who died...

because of the powerful suction of a pool drain should have just known better. They weren't watching their child?

Are we going to far here when it comes to protecting children?

If that's too extreme what about the eye sight of children? Should we not do what we can to protect that?

Where do we stop protecting children?

As someone suggested...a simple solution may be to just move items on hooks to a higher level out of the way. No fuss and no money spent. So, why is that too much to ask?

:shrug:

I guess I don't understand why some DUer's are okay with putting limits on child safety.

[TwilightGardener]

30. When I was a kid, my parents didn't seem to know what seatbelts

were for. They were permanently stuffed into the space between the seat and the seat back. My brothers and I rode in the far-back of the station wagon for entire long trips, rolling around loose and looking backwards out the window. When my older brother was ten or eleven, my dad decided he should start mowing the grass. My brother promptly ran over his own foot with the mower, slashing his sneaker to ribbons but miraculously leaving his foot uninjured (and learned a damned good lesson). I suppose my parents didn't love us enough to strap us in, or prevent us from doing potentially hazardous household chores. Either that, or they loved us but just didn't live in constant fear of bad things happening, the way we do today. I make sure my kids are strapped in for every car trip, I won't let my twelve-year-old mow the lawn yet, I won't let them on their buddies' ATV's and trampolines, I won't keep guns in the house--but we live in a culture of permanent fear now. Still, for as cautious as I've been (compared to my parents), it would never even occur to me to be afraid of things like display hooks. That's not caution, that's obsessive worry.

[cynatnite]

34. Well, we don't see these as problems until a child is hurt...

Sadly that's what it takes for our society to see problems. Then whether it's the government or in our homes...we take action to prevent it in the future.

[TwilightGardener]

38. There are degrees of caution--

pool drains that can seriously injure or kill? Redesign them or place a guard around them. There aren't that many public pools out there, it's very do-able. Require seat belts. Require helmets for bikes, etc. I'm all for it. Seeking to ban or regulate something that's ubiquitous and DOESN'T cause significant injuries for the vast majority of the population? Silly. We would first need to look at banning or regulating charcoal BBQ grills, and thorny rose bushes, and glass jars, and all manner of things that I have injured myself with as a kid--when is the government finally going to step in and take some action on these hazards, as well?

[cynatnite]

39. I never agreed with banning these hooks...

I've said more than once that probably moving them out of the reach of children would probably be the best way to handle it, IMO.

I'm of the mind that considering the eye injuries that have resulted is something we should be concerned about. Should we go unreasonably nuts? No, of course not, but I'm all for common sense.

[BigDaddy44]

35. There's nothing wrong with child safety

The problem is passing a law to handle every single possible instance.

"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law." (Winston Churchill)

[Ninga]

4. I own a retail business that have a million of those hooks all over the store.

Children many times run...RUN...through the store while mom or dad or who ever is supposed to be watching over them.....is in a catatonic daze....shopping.

Baby walkers were banned and then regulated by the Feds, because babies fell down basement stairs while wheeling around. Distracted adults? Or bad product?


Children have fallen off shelving trying to climb up to reach something, and children have pulled down displays, and children have opened packages leaving the contents scattered.

But those children only represent about 2%, the rest, about 98%, are barely noticeable and quite a pleasure to have in the store.


The hooks mentioned in the article are as common as paper clips, and there must be billions of them in stores all over the world.

[mindfulNJ]

6. Ridiculous

Why don't we just wrap the entire world in bubble wrap?

[Javaman]

10. "you'll shoot your eye out, kid!" nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. Simple solution.

All peg displays will be no less than 3' off the ground. It's easy to arrange displays to have bulk items on lower shelves, and peg displays above them.

In fact, IIRC, when I was employed at a chain toy store that was the policy - it kept toddlers from grabbing things off the pegs and pulling the display down.

Common sense.

[Elspeth]

31. This sounds like a much better solution than banning. Maybe you should

send it to the lawmaker.

[benEzra]

44. 3' is eye height for a small child. That wouldn't help much, I'd think. (n/t)

[juno jones]

14. Many of these hooks are adjustable in terms of display

Perhaps we should just set them all at waist height or so, so toddlers won't hit them.

On the other hand, letting a kid run amok in a store is just asking for it. I kept mine in the cart.

[cynatnite]

17. Some stores do have those tiny rubber protector thingies on the end...

The craft store I go to has them.

[Marrah_G]

18. Eventually we will all live alone in germ-free padded rooms

It's amazing I ever lived as long as I have.....

[SoCalDem]

21. Kids running "free" in stores is the problem.

Sometimes it's impossible to NOT take them with you, but if you DO, just don't let them run around.

That said, kids seem to be driven to hurt themselves.. Maybe that's how nature intended it..:shrug:

[Ilsa]

36. There is absolutely NO WAY I would let my 2 year olds walk through

stores, much less go freely. I always carried them or placed them in a shopping cart. If they didn't like that, we left ASAP. Stores shouldn't have to be child-proofed. IMO, that is an unfair burden on them. Parents have to be responsible for most aspects of their children's safety.

[elehhhhna]

41. "Pain is the body's teacher."

[Ikonoklast]

27. Simple solution is to ban younger children from the store

If parents are unable or unwilling to look after their own children, and abdicate that responsibility to strangers, then I would either have them take out an insurance policy at the door for their little angel, sign a waiver relieving the store from liability from the reckless disregard of some parents for their children in a public setting, or just ban them outright.

I worked retail for many a year, I wish I had a nickel for every time a child stood up in a shopping cart while the parent wasn't looking, and ended up either tipping the cart completely over, or falling out on its head.

Once we had a kid trying to grab an item off a shelf, but ending up beaning an older woman right on the forehead with a can of soup; knocked the poor woman silly. We had to call the squad for her.

Threats of lawsuits would usually ensue, even though we had signs at the entrance admonishing parents as to the dangers to children from falling, as they reach for something when the parent wasn't watching.

Even gently admonishing parents to please pay attention to their children while in the store would get a clerk screamed at by an irate parent.

You just can't help some people, but they sure know who to blame when things go bad.

Every one but themselves.

[Hugabear]

29. Obviously we should require child-proof shopping carts

We need to design shopping carts that won't tip over when children are playing around in them.

:sarcasm:

[OnyxCollie]

28. Long ago, when I worked at Borders,

we used some of those metal hooks. I had to be careful not to poke my own eye out while I restocked headphones, CD cases, etc.

[ConcernedCanuk]

40. I guess I should be amazed I survived my youth, 5 siblings, and I'm 57 now.

.
.
.

We had cap guns, bows and arrows, rode bicycles and played hockey on our back yard rink with NO HELMETS.

We had apple trees and snow balls, apple fights were not uncommon and a boxed ear or a black eye or bruises were not uncommon from these "battles".

We climbed trees and fell out

We climbed our "jungle gym" our father made for us, sometimes smashing our heads on the metal bars, and getting our tongues stuck on the metal in winter(once was always enough)

I even got smacked in the head once with a bat by being too eager a catcher in our neighborhood ballpark across the road.

No helmet no face mask

We got slivers from sitting on the edge of the sandbox our father made for us

I COULD PROBABLY SUE FOR THAT NOW!

I got spanked for misbehaving, and my mouth washed out with soap for bad language and disrespect.

I CAN SUE FOR THAT TOO, NO?

Oh yeah, and I literally lived on my peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch at school.

If I tried to live my youth as I did in the 50's - I'd be a felon by the time I reached my teens.

Imagine me walking to school with my "Have Gun Will Travel" gun-belt on, loaded with caps, and PEANUT BUTTER SAMMICHES in my lunch kit?

I guess I was one BAD boy.

[elehhhhna]

42. Oh yeah? I can top that! We had JARTS!