TV falling on kids???

gruntly · Sep 13, 2006

We have 5 and our youngest is 15.. Accidents happen. Our youngest grew up with that as his favourite saying "It was an Accident!!"... Right.

You can try to make everything in the house as safe as possible... But at which point will a child LEARN to decide what is right from wrong. It isn't instinctive. Just look at the statistics. Nothing can ever beat a parents attentiveness & discipline.. Nothing. No government legislation, no manufacturer's recalls. How did we ever make it this far?
If government is telling parents to go against natural empathy towards a child's primary or parentally guided education, then government is wrong. Everyone is so afraid of taking responsibility for their own actions and more concerned about who to blame next and the insurance companies and their shareholders rule the pack.

If you fail to tie your TV to a wall you can't sue the manufacturer because he told you to tie it in the owners manual. That's an insurance guided stipulation if I've ever heard one. I guess if I get my finger stuck in the car door I can still sue Chrysler for not mentioning in the owners manual. Duuhhh!! Accidents happen. Almost like suing Mickey D's for making their coffee too hot... no wait... that's bin done.

There are extremes to everything. But extremes cannot be controlled by blanket legislation. These extremes continue and run the risk of being dulled down by beaurocracy.

If a child swallows a button battery, it is a major concern.

http://www.poison.org/prevent/battery.asp

Diceman · Sep 13, 2006

I think you taking this to extremes here Grunt.....
I agree with a lot of what you say but it is still a good idea to secure heavy objects, especially ones with big pictures of Big Bird on them......to the wall.

madhat · Sep 13, 2006

When I was a kid my Dad had a Heath Kit TV, with NO Cabinet around it. We new better than to touch it. Also he kept his gun on a high shelf above his night table, I could have reached it by climbing on the bed and the night table, the fear of getting my butt warmed kept me away from it.

Diceman · Sep 14, 2006

Didja have barbed wire around your bed too?

The Penguin · Sep 14, 2006

Old console tvs from the 70s were too big to tip over.
My 35 tube tv weighs over 220 lbs - no joke.

it will squash a kid if he tips it over on himself.

the stove is another hazard the kids will open it and stand on the door to see the top of the stove or to climb up, the combined weight will tip the stove forward and injure or kill the kid. same with dressers and wardrobs and ent centres.

Its a pain but it beats burying your kid
or anyone's kid
I'd suggest you naysayers think about the down side of things before being judgementel

lastly these things will fall over in an earthquake anyway so why not strap em to the wall? your HW tank is isn't it?

amickracing · Sep 14, 2006

My WH isn't tied down.. course we don't have earth quakes either.

My take on this... it sure don't hurt to strap the tv down AND teach the kids not to climb on it, with the latter being much more important. You can protect your kids all you want in your house.. but eventually they'll go out into the real world where there is much more danger all around them. I bet there's plenty of tree huggin people who would send us to hell for ever taking a young kid with us on a service call because of all the risks...

MikeJ · Sep 14, 2006

The risks are always there. Most of us get lucky and get to see our kids grow to adulthood, but some, thru no fault of their own, have to take life's path without all their children. I feel for them.

Watch your kids all the time? Teach them all the dangers?
Not possible, but most try.

I was visiting a friend and my young son (8?) decided to investigate in a dumpster at the apartment building. Yep, it tipped on him. Funny, I felt something, and went out and he had crawled out from under it, lucky the sharp edge didn't cut him in half. He was really shook up but not hurt. Now, when dumpster diving, he knows how to get in and out. He's 35 and I think he has even slept in a few.

Manufacturers warnings:

"If a child swallows a button battery, it is a major concern."

I still have the instructions somewhere and they were for the first pager I had. Was in the mid seventies.

DO NOT SWALLOW THE BATTERIES......(Was a warning in the instructions part about replacing the batteries. Further down was...DO NOT SWALLOW THE BATTERY DOOR.....And, I repeat, this was in the seventies. A Motorola product.

Always wanted to send that one into Jay Leno but never got around to it.

dhvac · Sep 14, 2006

I feel for the parents that lose a child also

But you know I feel for them a whole lot less when their kids are unmanaged animals

For example I have a friend with 4 kids I won’t even let them at my home for more then a few minutes they climb on everything try to get into everything

Will try to get in my LOCKED gun cabinet by repeatedly pulling on the door hoping it will break and open
The times I have worked at his home I have had to carry my tool bag around with me and lock the doors on my truck to keep them out of stuff

Now his oldest 2 are his step children and good kids but the young 2 are just hellions and although it would be a tragedy if one of them died it would probably be from neglect if it did happen

Diceman · Sep 14, 2006

I wonder if the tv's at the Paradise Motel are secured to the wall......hmmmmmmmmmm??
We could run a few UL tests while we are there.

coordinatesales · Sep 14, 2006

We do what is reasonable to protect them but we have to teach/discipline them to be able to make sound decisions. There also comes a point of diminishing return. When something is extremely rare or simple caution can prevent, we shouldn't have to spend a lot of time/money working to prevent it.
Using the battery example above, since a child can swallow a battery, should ALL batteries be made large enough to prevent swallowing? I think not. When I was a kid, I stuck the prong from my Dad's belt buckle in an electric outlet. Scared my mom but I was okay. Should ALL electric outlets be made childproof regardless of wether a child resides there or not? No, but if a child resides there, it is cheap and easy to install protective caps and that at least should be done.

Lets use a little common sense in determining how much effort/money goes into preventative measure and how much goes into education.

madhat · Sep 15, 2006

MikeJ said:
Life is dangerous and no one can survive it.

That reminds me of an article in the "Onion," It said that despite all the advances in health care the death rate for the United States was still at 100% It showed a couple of people on the street, including polticians, whose reaction went from perplexed to outrage.

operator · Sep 15, 2006

madhat said:
MikeJ said:

Life is dangerous and no one can survive it.

Click to expand...

That reminds me of an article in the "Onion," It said that despite all the advances in health care the death rate for the United States was still at 100% It showed a couple of people on the street, including polticians, whose reaction went from perplexed to outrage.

OK, come on now, thats shts funny, and I can see people getting confused

TV falling on kids???

gruntly

Diceman

madhat

Diceman

The Penguin

amickracing

MikeJ

dhvac

Diceman

coordinatesales

madhat

operator

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities