Ethics Surrounding Toys

2035 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mattel and Toy Safety final paper

Ethics Surrounding the Safety of Children’s Toys and Products Toys and manufactured products surround children every day. These items are at their places of residence, friend’s houses schools and places where their parent’s shop. Thousands of toys are manufactured each year across the globe. Who is responsible for the safety of the toys and products used by children? Is it the manufacturer or the retailer? Do parents or guardians play a role in the safety since it is their child using the toy? The answer is the manufacturer, retailer and parents guardians all hold ethical responsibility toward children’s product and toy safety. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) study, “In 2013, there were an estimated 256,700 toy-related …show more content…

The CPSC has an entire division dedicated to the safety of children’s toys. In 1994, the Child Safety Protecting Act was passed. The law details out the following standards:
“The Child Safety Protection Act bans toys intended for children under age three if the toys pose a choking hazard. The act also requires warning labels on packaging for small balls, balloons, marbles and other toys and games containing small parts, when the games and toys are intended for use by children ages three to six.
The Federal Hazardous Substances Act bans toys that contain any hazardous substance, such as lead. It also bans toys that present an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard to children.
The Labeling Hazardous Art Materials Act requires the labeling of art materials that contain hazardous substances as inappropriate for use by children.
The Standard Consumer Safety Specification on Toy Safety has been voluntarily set by th toy industry. The goal of these standards is to minimize the risk of injury from toys “during normal use and reasonable foreseeable …show more content…

All toys designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age and younger must be third party tested and be certified with the issuance of a Children’s Product Certificate (cpsc.gov). This was a very important decision put forth by President George W. Bush at the time. Toy safety was just one aspect of this law. By implementing nationwide standards, this set a precedence for toy manufacturers to follow ensuring toys and products were safe for all children. Each manufacturer has to follow the same guidelines and rules, so there can be no huge safety discrepancies between products. Manufacturers such as Mattel and Fisher Price take a consequentialist view of ethics for toy safety. Their feelings lie in the “concern about outcomes or the consequences of actions and good choices involve options which produce the best benefit/harm ratio”

Show More
Related

  • Was Vermont Teddy Bear Company Crazy?

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2005, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company produced a controversial bear for the Valentine holiday. The bear that was made was called “Crazy for You” and wore a straitjacket. It became an issue when the company was confronted for offending the mentally ill. After the problem became apparent to the organization, it responded by saying that it would continue selling the toy until the inventory was empty. It was put out for the public in January and was sold out by February 3. The ethical issue in this case is whether or not Vermont Teddy Bear Company handled the situation ethically correct.

    Read More

  • Love In The Time Of Robotic Pets Analysis

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    Initially, the technological toys in question do not teach their owners the importance of responsibility. Consider the following question Frank Mullin poses in his article Love In the Time of Robots: “...what does a child

    Read More

  • Mattel Inc.: Case Study

    1483 Words  | 3 Pages

    As noted by Sethi, Veral, Shapiro & Emelianova (2011), the toys’ magnets could easily become lose, and thus posed a huge threat to the safety of the children as they could easily ingest them. Additionally, the toys which were produced were usually covered with lead which does affect the health of the children. The company outsourced the products from China. In this case, Mattel was quick to portray China as the culprit and denied direct involvement in the blunders. However, the company was forced to accept the full responsibility at the end of it after widespread criticism from both China and the media (Sethi, et al.

    Read More

  • Case Study Toxic Toys

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thony Dizon, the coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect, once said, “Not all toy products that make it to the store shelves are child-friendly.” “If we are not careful with our purchasing choices, it is likely we will be giving away toys that are not safe for children to play with,” he added.

    Read More

  • The Power Of Power For Paradigm Toys

    1761 Words  | 4 Pages

    Employees should be trained and familiar with the Code of Ethics and follow the lead of their referent managers when dealing with the customers of Paradigm Toys to ensure they are fulfilling their corporate social responsibility. Employees- The board of directors should make sure that their managers are training the employees on the Code of Ethics. Employees and managers should understand the importance and expectations that the board of directors requires of them to make sure they are performing ethically and maintaining the highest social responsibility.

    Read More

  • Marketing Toys That Deal With Enhancing Child Development

    1332 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many marketing companies tend to overstretch the truth about the toys or things they are selling in order to get their sells higher and to make more profit. This typically happens if they are marketing toys that deal with enhancing child development. These companies don 't care about the side effects their product may have, as long as the parents are convinced, go out and buy it, them companies are good. When it comes to infant toys it is tricky to tell if a baby is going to like it or not. Every infant is different when it comes to learning. There is one particular company called SmartNoggin that claims to help parents and caregivers encourage early milestones in their infant’s development beginning at birth while using their product "NogginStik".

    Read More

  • Can A Playground Be Too Safe Summary

    474 Words  | 1 Pages

    In article one, Tear Down the Swing Sets, Nicholas Day has given us reasons why playground designs have changed over time. One reason is child safety. Days research shows on lines 35, he has stated," But there's this sense that if you talk about it that's enough. There's this very real reluctance to get involved in anything that might at least potentially cause an injury." This example shows that playgrounds

    Read More

  • Toddler's Approximate And Acknowledge Ownership Rights Summary

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Toddlers Assert and Acknowledge Ownership Rights,” the authors conduct an investigation through an experiment they created themselves. This makes the article a research paper rather than a review as they are not analyzing another person’s work. This experiment consisted of presenting a distinct toy to pairs of friends, 24 or 30 months of age. The toys were randomly selected from a set, making it a true experiment. In relation to objects, ownership guides people’s thoughts and behaviors. The concept of ownership affects how someone will buy, lend, and steal possessions. Ownership is a social aspect of life because it has to be recognized by members of a society. When dealing with children’s play toys, they must respect other children’s rights and defend their own.

    Read More

  • Henry Gordy International Inc.

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    According to CPSC (2010), On May 2010, a recall was initiated for 1.8 million Auto Fire Target Sets due to children swallowing the 1 inch dart, causing asphyxiation and eventually death to three children. However, the toy was not initiated to be recalled by the person responsible, Henry Gordy International Inc. but from Family Dollar Stores, Inc. and from U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The toy dart guns was imported from China by Henry Gordy International Inc., of Plainfield, NJ, which were sold exclusively at Family Dollar stores nationwide from September 2005 through January 2009 for about $1.50.

    Read More

  • Mattel and Toy Safety

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the contents of this case there are several management and safety issues and areas for improvement. One issue is Mattel, Inc.’s responsibility to its stakeholders; to its customers, to its stockholders, to its employees, and to its suppliers. The responsibility to Mattel’s customers is that of producing and selling safe products. Along with the recall on the lead coated toys there were also toys that contained small, but powerful magnets that if swallowed could attract each other and cause serious or fatal intestinal perforation or blockage. These defects were not discovered during the testing of the products. Before this incident occurred Mattel, Inc. was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the 100 most trustworthy U.S. companies. Too this, Mattel did everything they could to assure that they were doing everything possible to handle and correct this problem. For Mattel’s stockholders, the company had to make sure that the image and reputation was saved and redeemed as soon as possible. With such a massive and extensive recall of potentially hazardous products, that was designed to be safe for children, the stock prices and e...

    Read More

  • Mattel and Toy Safety

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... in the toy industry is to make toy safety the number one priority and to fulfill the customers’ needs.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of LEGO

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the words of Ole Kirk Christiansen , the founder of LEGO, "only the best is enough." And since then LEGO company have kept their promise by making sure they deliver toys of the best quality. The company has a tolerance of 2/1000 mm for its products. It is ensured that all employees are aware, through the EHS website, of the use of ISO 14001 as the company's policy. Annually, consumers, customers and stakeholders are given EHS performance reports using ISO 14001. The company has utilized ISO 9001 ( quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 8124 ( safety of toys) for ongoing improvement and maintenance of safety. All LEGO websites globally are certified with ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards. In addition, they help with the managements of the environment, health and safety. ISO 14001 is used to ensure all necessary policies are satisfied and improvements on necessary issues including the environment for the employees and decreasing waste management and maintains the reliability and reputation of the company. The ISO 8124, also known as the safety of toys, s...

    Read More

  • Toys and Child Development

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    The origin of the word toy is uncertain but according to Harper, in 1300 a toy is meant t0 be an “amorous playing, sport later piece of fun or entertainment.” Today’s definition is an “object of a representation of something familiar, as an animal or person, for children to play with.” The definition of a toy doesn’t say a very fancy and shiny electronic device that effects a child’s development. The exact time of when toys were created on Earth is unknown due to the fact that we as humans haven’t been around for a ver...

    Read More

  • Toys Inc Case Study

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    Top managers should be reminded that they are ultimately responsible for the quality of a product and the company. Quality management is one of the keys. By defining quality in operational terms, understanding the costs and benefits of quality, recognizing the consequences of poor quality, and recognizing the need for ethical behavior (Stevenson, 2012), will lead to a more productive operation. If Toys, Inc. specifically doesn’t want to hire additional positions to inspect quality they could outsource to a company such as SATRA whom from its website states, “SATRA can assess the risk of injury from a toy, as well as carry out analysis for the presence of restricted metals such as lead, chromium and mercury(2015).” Quality is the ability of a product or service to consistently meet or exceed customer expectations (Stevenson, 2012). Quality when it comes to manufacturing of toys especially those that have moving parts also brings in safety concerns. “Market watch officials and technological experts have warned parents to pay more attention to the quality of toys they purchase to better protect their children (Hazell, C 2011).” Parents will associate a poorly made toy, especially one that already knows that it’s poorly made by having a trade-in program as potentially dangerous for their son or daughter. Continuing to have customer dissatisfaction will further question the quality of our product and in turn the safety of our

    Read More

  • Benefits Of Wooden Toys

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most of the toys are completely safe since they have been carefully designed by experts. As we have mentioned earlier also, they are not easy to break hence your child will not be exposed to any sharp edges or small pieces.

    Read More

More about Ethics Surrounding Toys

Open Document