Crayola and Product Safety

I love - love - Crayola. We use a lot of art supplies and I have found theirs to be of the best quality, when it comes to children's art supplies. And their innovation is amazing. They are always coming up with new, fun children's art and craft supplies. And their website is full of awesome project ideas.

And, no, I am not getting paid for this.

Recently, I e-mailed the company with reference to the recent toy recalls, asking if any of their products are made in China. Here is the reply I received.

Dear Charity,

Thank you for your recent inquiry.

Providing quality, safe, kid-friendly products is our #1 goal. We source a small amount of our products from China. All Crayola(R) products, including licensed products, must be produced in compliance with our rigorous safety standards and specifications. This procedure ensures the materials supplied to us meet or exceed U.S. and European regulations and standards specific to our industry.

Our products undergo independent laboratory testing in Asia, and many are tested again in Europe, which has some of the highest standards for toy safety in the world. In addition, our art material products also undergo third-party toxicological testing by the Arts and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) and carry the AP (Approved Product)(R) seal.

We are confident that we have the processes and systems in place to ensure the safety of Crayola products. Your comments and concerns are welcomed, and we appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

Colorfully yours,

Christine Mann
E-Mail Response Representative
CRAYOLA

Take it for what it is worth. I just wanted to share this.

Colorfully yours, how cute is that?

Aqua Dots Recall

The toy Aqua Dots has been recalled after two children in the US and three in Australia were hospitalized after ingesting the dots. The toy is called "Bindeez" in Australia.

The toy beads are sold in general merchandise stores and over the Internet for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused when sprayed with water.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound — made from common and easily available ingredients — can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Just the day before yesterday, I was looking at these in a sale flier and thinking to myself, "These look cool, but there is no way I would buy them. If the beads fuse together when sprayed with water, I don't even want to think about what kind of nasty chemicals they are made out of."

Well, now I know: Date rape drugs.

BusinessWeek's Young Entrepreneur

Since I started blogging, I have always used StatCounter on all my blogs. I really like it. So, when I got an e-mail this morning saying that Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter's founder, won Business Week's Young Entrepreneur contest, I was not surprised.

It was a web vote and they had e-mailed all of their clients about the contest. If others are as happy with the service as I am, it is no wonder he got the votes.

What did surprise me was that this guy is such a go-getter. He started his first business at 12, typing resumes, and had a web design business by age 16, which is what gave him the idea to launch StatCounter.

Amazing!

Praise Them

I was just reading this ridiculous story about employers praising the Me Generation workers in order to keep their self-esteem up. I don't even know where to begin commenting on this. It is so unbelievably stupid.

I couldn't even finish reading it. Once I got to this part, I had to stop.

Employers are finding ways to adjust. Sure, there are still plenty of surly managers who offer little or no positive feedback, but many withholders are now joining America's praise parade to hold on to young workers. They're being taught by employee-retention consultants such as Mark Holmes, who encourages employers to give away baseball bats with engravings ("Thanks for a home-run job") or to write notes to employees' kids ("Thanks for letting dad work here. He's terrific!")

My mind went off on a tangent of, If Bob's employer ever did such an asinine thing as to actually encourage our children to think they are letting him work there, like they have any such control over our lives, he would have to quit, and I just called it quits on the article.

This reminded me of something that happened in the grocery store once with The D. He was really good, after a phase of being a pain in the store, so I said, You did a nice job behaving today. He replied, Can I get a candy bar, since I did such a nice job behaving today?

I said, No, we don't deserve a reward for doing what we are supposed to do anyway. You did a nice job and I am proud of you for the improvement, but this is what you should have been doing all along. Rewards are for when you do something extra.

There was a woman standing behind us who looked aghast. Apparently, she did not agree with what I said. I just remember thinking, I hope she doesn't have any kids.

One of my first lessons learned in homeschooling was that my children had had their self-esteem decimated by the over-praise of the public school. When they received praise that they did not deserve, it made them feel uncomfortable and less confident. Worse than that, they started having a problem believing anything good that was said about them, even when it was warranted.

I worry about what the future holds when we are now faced with young adults whose self-worth and psychological well-being depends on constant praise.

It's a scary thought.

(Hat tip: Crunchy Con)