When a grandmother tells a mother "The heart of a mother lies not with her work, her life, or her future, but with the heart of her children"; she is correct. This thought can be seen in any park, playground, or picnic on a sunny Sunday afternoon. So why is it that mothers in America are so content to allow toys of questionable quality into the lives of children? Toys are an increasingly risky subject to parents; but why? Is toy quality just another scare that is being blown out of proportion? Have we given-up hope? Where can we turn to get the answers to our quality concerns? The decision to continue to purchase products of questionable quality is ultimately with the consumer. What we must realize is that the consumer, the company, the manufacturer, and the government all must play a roll in the enforcement of quality standards.
The news is here and it does sound bad. How bad is it? It would be naive to say that it is all a big misunderstanding that the quality of toys being imported into this country and sold everywhere are completely quality inspected and tested with a child's well-being in mind. It is also naive to think that a child touching or handling a toy will cause cancer. We have to carefully consider the side of safety and the side of understanding. Time is telling us that as China and the other big players in the manufacturing world grow, the quality of the products being manufactured within those countries also increases. China alone has poured millions of equivalent dollars into ensuring that the new quality standards for toys set forth by the United States Congress in 2008 are met and in many cases exceeded. It was then that we sounded the alarm, and the results are pouring in.
Everyday a new study can be found on the effect of lead based materials being used in the manufacture of toys. The primary issue isn't the cost to manufacture safe toys. The issue is the deception of quality practices in the manufacturing processes and also, surprisingly, with the quality checks that are reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This type of deception, deemed "untraceable" by Harris and Moure makes it easy to give up hope and accept that questionable products will always make it into the hands of the unsuspecting public. The process of deception is now being referred to as "quality fade" because initially and for a period of many months or even years the toys look and test very well and are ordered and shipped to arrive on consumer shelves looking flawless and thus keeping the consumer happy and unsuspecting. The issue stemming from this is the consumer, the toy company, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission become complacent by assuming that the manufacturing process isn't going to change and will continue to churn out safe toys for the masses. It is at this point, after the long period of trouble-free inspections, that the manufacturer will begin removing a small ingredient or manufacturing process resulting in an increase of profits for the manufacturer but a big decrease in quality over time. This change isn't caught due to third party, or off-site, quality testing. For example: A company will make and test ten units in-house. Unfortunately, nine of the ten units will not pass a quality inspection, however, the tenth one will. The tenth unit, the only one that passed, will then be sent to the third-party quality control personnel who report to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Everything will look up to the quality standards set forth by the United States Congress even though bad units are being produced and shipped to stores all over the world. This process will repeat itself again and again until quality fall to the point that a child suffers because the lack of morality and common good that we seem to take for granted.
Parents have astounding new tools at their disposal to voice concern over toy quality. It must become a priority to ensure that the quality standards and expectations we have with toys are met without question. We have to understand that we can contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission and report suspected malfeasance, no matter how slight. We have to understand that we can contact the toy company directly and voice concern or demand answers. We have make sure that every parent knows that third party quality inspection is available locally almost anywhere in the United States and that inspection sites like Consumer Reports, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are here to fight the battle with toy manufacturers also. Manufacturers have feet and it is up to parents to hold them to the fire.
We do have a voice. It is loud and it is strong. Parents can ignore that an issue exists with toy quality coming from other countries or we can make it a point to help find the answers and implement the solutions. The fundamental challenge is change. Change will be the single hardest issue to voice, push, and grade. We have to push the change that we require as parents and set clear and unwavering expectations. This is done in part by contacting the Consumer Product Safety Commission directly with concerns, no matter how slight, and urging every parent to do the same. The push in change also must come by the constant awareness and education of changes in toy appearance, feel, and quality. We have to be vigilant in fighting to protect the health of children. We have to know that we have hope to change the tolerance, increase the expectation, and voice our concerns with toy quality. Every parent has a voice in the constant battle with quality, but will everyone choose to use it?
Sources:
http://www.cpsc.gov/BUSINFO/Locker.pdf
http://www.chinalawblog.com/2007/07/china_products_its_always_dark.html
http://www.quotegarden.com/mothers.html
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1776
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm
http://delauro.house.gov/text_release.cfm?id=849
http://www.house.gov/
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