I have written in the homeschooling blog about how much my five year old son likes anything remotely related to science. He is especially thrilled with physical science. So when we saw the little Magnetix magnet kits in the store, we immediately thought we had a great Christmas present. But we eventually went with a cooler, bigger, more geekish science related toy and left the magnets on their shelf.
Have you ever felt the magnet sets? They are surprisingly strong. They have to be, they are designed so that you can build structures with them. The sets contain several little balls, and several sticks that are magnetized on both ends. They seem like a cool toy if your child is into that sort of thing.
But here’s the problem. The magnets are small enough to be swallowed–especially the ball pieces. I am not concerned about my 5 year old swallowing them. . .but I am concerned about a certain 20 month old set running around my house getting their hands on one of them. But actually to be more specific, swallowing just one really isn’t that big of a problem.
A Hard Lesson to Learn
Kenny Sweet a 20 month old boy, died two days after complaining of stomach pain and vomiting. His autopsy revealed that he had swallowed nine of the magnets from his older brother’s set. The magnets were attracted to each other and stacked together on his insides. They had caused the bowel to twist and a blood infection. Other cases have been reported where a child will swallow more than one and the magnets, attracting to each other will twist off the intestines or even perforate them. So far there have been nineteen cases of surgery as a result of such injuries.
Keeping Kids Safe
After learning about the potential dangers of such a toy, we decided that it was not worth having in the house. Unfortunately, my son received one for Christmas. We threw it out. There is risk for everything and I certainly know that. However, it is our duty as parents to do the best we can to keep our kids safe. It only takes a second for your child to stick something in his or her mouth. It only takes a second of you answering the phone, or going to the bathroom. This is one toy that we will definitely wait to buy.
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