Friday, November 30, 2007

News Analysis Assignment- Tonia Rivera

In the article “Should You Trust Toys From China?,” the issue of globalization surfaces when a toy gets recalled that wasn’t made in the US. Many of the toys that our children play with are made in China because of the low cost of production. Companies outsource their work to companies like China so that they are able to profit more by only having to pay employees a small fraction of what employees make in the US. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were “61 toy recalls in 2007, 19 of which involved violations of the lead paint standard” (Should You Trust Toys From China). This finding is alarming to those parents who initially had put their full trust in companies to only release those toys that had tested safe for children.
Globalization’s driving force involves money and therefore, safety is secondary. The public is demanding that safety is taken more seriously and expecting in the near future for companies to step up their safety measures. A publisher of Toy Tips stated that, “A billion toys in the country are from China. A lot of toys made in China are fine.” This publisher’s statement is not enough assurance to a parent whose child’s safety is put on the line when they buy their kid a toy made in China. The probability that the toy may not be fine raises eyebrows and issues of safety for kids. We as consumers don’t want a billion toys to be fine instead we want all the toys to be fine. No child’s well-being should be put on the line because they are playing with a toy that did not undergo rigorous testing for safety. China is not the problem, taking shortcuts is. The recalls done in 2007 should teach companies that our children are not guinea pigs and their standards must be raised in order to protect the safety of the children.

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