Columnist Susan Snyder: In a way, all toys are dangerous

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003 | 8:19 a.m.

It happens every year.

A few days after you've blown January's mortgage payment on the toys that'll make little ones gleeful until the batteries go dead, the Safety People (SAPs) come out with 450 reasons the toys crammed in the guest bedroom closet are dangerous.

You're in debt until April, and your children may die before New Year's.

Merry Christmas.

OK, so the SAPs have some valid concerns. For example, until a child is about 4 years old, everything goes into his or her mouth. (After 6 or 7, it goes into his little brother's nose, but that's another issue entirely.)

Seriously, choking is the most common toy-related injury, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says. Most of the toys listed on the agency's recall list are there because parts can break off and pose a choking hazard. (Check out recalled toys at www.cpsc.gov.)

However, we also must remember that any toy should be considered dangerous in the hands of a child. In fact, it doesn't even have to be an actual toy. I almost lost an eye at the hands of an 17-month-old armed with a spoonful of SpaghettiOs.

After the initial excitement wears off children inevitably will pursue life's nagging questions:

Will G.I. Joe melt in an Easy Bake Oven?

Do Shrinky Dinks look better painted with nail polish?

Is it possible to ride a skateboard down the middle of the street while singing through your sister's Bratz Kool Karaoke machine?

Does Midge's head fit on Ken's body? (A game that may signal a child's exploration of some deeper issues.)

Figures from the CPSC say 25 children died toy-related deaths in 2001, while 255,100 of them suffered toy-related injuries that required emergency room treatment.

While the commission has established that many of those injuries likely came from choking, a fair number of those hospital visits likely were for head injuries to children who fell off bicycles, skateboards and scooters when they weren't wearing CPSC-approved helmets. (A sticker inside the helmet or on the box will say "CPSC.")

Tumbles from bicycles account for about 67,000 head injuries each year, figures from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute show. The institute's numbers also show that 1 in 8 bicyclists who report injuries suffer them to the brain.

So give helmets with those bikes, scooters, skateboards and roller skates. Don't forget knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards for the skates too.

And remember, a helmet that fits is only the beginning, Randy Swart, institute spokesman, said.

"It's not sufficient to just strap on a helmet and send them outside," he said. "Equip the child with some survival rules."

A helmet won't teach your child to stop at intersections and driveways or to look left-right-left for traffic before crossing. For helmet-fitting and other tips, check out www.bhsi.org.

Sure, we all grew up just fine without helmets. Maybe we were lucky then.

Hopefully, we're smarter now.

Besides, even though it's not one of the listed uses, a helmet might also protect your kid when his sister whacks him over the head with her Glamorous Gala Barbie doll.