Family want plastic pen tops ban

scorza said:
Why is it unreasonable? This happened when I was a kid and as a result most pen tops now have holes in them. We don't need pen tops either, there are those clicky pens as an alternative. If banning pen tops saves just one life then it's worth it imo.
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Yup, I still remember when you could get biros whose lids didn't have safety holes.

I can't see this happening though. Alright, biros don't really need lids, but they do stop you getting ink all over everything. What about fountain pens? When I was at school most people used a Parker fountain pen. The lids on these are swallowable and don't have safety air holes, but are kind of necessary. Do we ban these too?

Lots of things are dangerous if misused, and it seems to be part of our current culture that if you get injured whilst misusing something, then it is the fault of the manufacturer for not telling you not to do it, and not yours. Most people are quite aware that chewing small bits of plastic is a choking hazard - should we ban all bits of plastic of a certain size? My feeling is that if you can't trust yourself not to chew the lid of a pen, then you can get yourself a pen without a lid (or even throw the lid away).

Whilst I feel for the parents, this was an accident caused by their son sticking something in his mouth which he should not of - not an accident caused by someone supplying him with that item.
 
wolseley said:
Yup, I still remember when you could get biros whose lids didn't have safety holes.

I can't see this happening though. Alright, biros don't really need lids, but they do stop you getting ink all over everything. What about fountain pens? When I was at school most people used a Parker fountain pen. The lids on these are swallowable and don't have safety air holes, but are kind of necessary. Do we ban these too?

Lots of things are dangerous if misused, and it seems to be part of our current culture that if you get injured whilst misusing something, then it is the fault of the manufacturer for not telling you not to do it, and not yours. Most people are quite aware that chewing small bits of plastic is a choking hazard - should we ban all bits of plastic of a certain size? My feeling is that if you can't trust yourself not to chew the lid of a pen, then you can get yourself a pen without a lid (or even throw the lid away).

Whilst I feel for the parents, this was an accident caused by their son sticking something in his mouth which he should not of - not an accident caused by someone supplying him with that item.
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No one is blaming anyone here, it was a tragic accident that's all and personally I think after an accident it's important to ask the question 'could this have been avoided?' Clearly, one way of avoiding another tragic accident like this would be for pens to be sold without tops (unless they need them like fountain pens), surely that possibility is worth investigating?
 
Why ban lids?
They should be concentrating on raising awareness of how dangerous it can be to be chewing bits of plastic. Or teaching people a bit more common sense, as thats what seems to have been lacking here.
You cant ban thing on the basis of it being dangerous if used incorrectly! Other wise every house hold item would come under a reason to ban it.
 
LizardKing said:
Why ban lids?
They should be concentrating on raising awareness of how dangerous it can be to be chewing bits of plastic. Or teaching people a bit more common sense, as thats what seems to have been lacking here.
You cant ban thing on the basis of it being dangerous if used incorrectly! Other wise every house hold item would come under a reason to ban it.
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People chew their pens and no amount of education is going to change that. I have always done so despite hearing stories of people choking to death on the pen tops. Why ban the pen lids? Well because they don't actually need to be there do they?
 
scorza said:
People chew their pens and no amount of education is going to change that. I have always done so despite hearing stories of people choking to death on the pen tops. Why ban the pen lids? Well because they don't actually need to be there do they?
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There's lots of things that don't need to be there that do a lot more damage then pen lids. I prefer clicky pens, shame they're harder to come by. :/
 
Jokester said:
I've heard of people chewing the end of pens, but taking the lid off and eating it?

Jokester
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I've had pens where the lid slips off the end of the pen quite easily, especially after a bit of lubrication from my spit (nice :p ). Sometimes I remove the pen lid from the end of my pen with my mouth. The point is that often when people are using pens then they aren't necessarily thinking about how they are using the pen. Do they deserve to choke to death? I don't think so.

Sorry, but I just don't see the need to **** this kid off, calling him an idiot, a darwin award etc just because he died in an accident.
 
Nickg said:
So instead of a campaign "kids dont suck on pen lids" they just want to cut to the chase and ban the pen?

seems a little irrational...
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We have an unhealthy ban culture here. Rather than educating people to not do things that endanger their health, we'd rather assume that people are idiots and things must be banned because we can't be trusted to be around a whole multitude of inaminate objects.
 
Nickg said:
So instead of a campaign "kids dont suck on pen lids" they just want to cut to the chase and ban the pen?

seems a little irrational...
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The pen lid, not the pen. I think you're being irrational thinking that education will stop people chewing their pens. How do you suggest we educate them? A leaflet campaign? Make it part of the national curriculum? Or pull the kids out of their class for a "very special talk" on how to use pens ala sex education?
 
I can remember my teacher banning me from a pen because I did this, had a pencil instead till I learnt better.
One kid had a pencil and chewed that down to the lead, that takes determination!
 
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