“Research by scientists at the University of Southern California showed that information provided by social networking sites moves too fast for the brain of a child to process, which affects emotional development, CNN reports.
“If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people’s psychological states and that would have implications for your morality,” researcher Mary Helen Immordino- Yang said.”
The toy company will pay 38 states $12 million settlement for claims that its toys manufactured in China contained excessive lead. That figures out to be $300,000 per state. Is that about the cost of the lawsuits?
Mattel is also suppose to adhere to stricter for lead in toys. How strict? I’m not sure this is big consumer victory. I’ll see what others say.
I’ve mentioned before, here, about how the Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations will not take place until after this Christmas session is over so here is a place to go to now if you want to make sure you buy safe toys.
HealthyToys.org which is sponsored by the Ecology Center.
Not only do they allow you to search on toys for health and safety concerns but they make it easy for you to communicate with the government and manufacturers about the importance of making toys safer.
Last year hazardous toys sent 80,000 children under five to the emergency room. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has stronger protections in place BUT many of them do not take place until 2009 and a key provision has been suspended indefinitely. And the biggest shopping season for children’s toys is still to come in 2008
The company claimed to offer 50% discount on eyewear for children but the lawsuit, filed in Cook County court, claims that they actually nearly doubled the regular price from which Lenscrafter then offered the “discount.”
Complaint courtesy Courthousenews
Reading Tea Leaves by Randy Wilson 