Toxic toys made in China, what should we do?

[Evo]

My mom smashed my chemistry set that I obtained myself because she thought I'd blow up the house. No, mom, I would have blown up OTHERS houses. So I guess it worked out.

Oh MOM, TRUST US! I was sad that neither of my daughters had an interest in science. I bought them microscopes and telescopes and they wouldn't touch them. I bought them the coolest stuff. Stuff I would have DIED for if it had been around when I was their age. I just had to realize that it wasn't their thing. I did find out that at age 12 my oldest daughter had gotten into my computer and taught herself how to code and was doing websites for businesses (for free) and had a website where she was counseling teenagers. And she was doing an Excellent job! But I was afraid of repercussions, so asked her to stop the advice site. This was in the mid 90's. She's a gifted artist and she's a computer whiz and that's her occupation now.

 

[Buffu]

I was sad that neither of my daughters had an interest in science.

I did find out that at age 12 my oldest daughter had gotten into my computer and taught herself how to code

But computer science is a science.

 

[Evo]

But computer science is a science.

Yes, but not astronomy, which was my favorite.

 

[jedishrfu]

We once set fire to a piece of paper using a toy Fresnel lens (plastic lens made by Radio Shack) under the mistaken belief that you couldn’t do this indoors ie thru a window using a cheap plastic lens. Boy were we wrong. Fortunately, the toilet was nearby to flush away any evidence except for the brown spot on the wood floor.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_lens

Some years later, I was inspecting a quartz crystal globe at a Quartzite Az rock and gem show when I felt a burning feeling in my hand. The quartz globe acted as a lens. The vendor said that you should never place the globes in direct sunlight as they have been known to cause fires. You could actually see where some wood bases had burn marks already because they got some direct sun while on display.

 

[russ_watters]

Yes, but not astronomy, which was my favorite.

I feel your pain.

 

[StatGuy2000]

When we give kids toys, we can expand their creativity but when we give them toys like today's Legos we diminish their creativity to build new things because the Legos have become the toys never to be taken apart (at least many kids view them as such).

I've had that experience with my kids and Legos whereas I was raised with Kenner's building sets, American bricks and Gilbert Erector sets. We would make our own toys with the parts and when we were tired of them remake them into new toys. Eventually, we made toys out of all sorts of junk. I remember making a starship out of a flat piece of wood, some cardboard wings and a Timex box for the cockpit. We made a space station from a lampshade and hung it in the garage to make a docking station.

Another creativity destroyer has been the prepackaged computer games. My first encounter with a computer was writing a game in Basic. Who does that now? I'd wager very few kids compared to the computer availability.

The implication seems to be that you think that today's kids (or perhaps today's teenagers) are somehow less creative than the preceding generation by comparison. Do we have any empirical evidence that this is the case?

 

[symbolipoint]

The implication seems to be that you think that today's kids (or perhaps today's teenagers) are somehow less creative than the preceding generation by comparison. Do we have any empirical evidence that this is the case?

jedishrfu gave his discussion based on his experienced opinion - EXPERIENCED opinion.

 

[Evo]

The implication seems to be that you think that today's kids (or perhaps today's teenagers) are somehow less creative than the preceding generation by comparison. Do we have any empirical evidence that this is the case?

Well, that they seem to spend much more time on their phones? I know my kids do. Of course their thumbs move so fast they are blurs.

 

[jedishrfu]

The implication seems to be that you think that today's kids (or perhaps today's teenagers) are somehow less creative than the preceding generation by comparison. Do we have any empirical evidence that this is the case?

Sadly, yes.

https://www.livescience.com/15535-children-creative.html

and the actual study is here:

https://www.nesacenter.org/uploaded/conferences/SEC/2013/handouts/Kim_Creativity-Crisis_CRJ2011.pdf

My experience is from working with kids over the years and comparing notes. I grew up without organized sports, with boy scouts being too pricey to join, with parents willing to buy me books and science/education related toys and an uncle who inspired me with a microscope and a CRC math book. We watched TV but there were limited science or scifi shows on. My favorites were the Outer Limits, Forbidden Planet, the Invisible Boy and TOBOR the Great. I always wanted to see more movies and shows like them but discovered much later that there weren't any more. They were the best of the times.

Moved discussion to a new thread so as not to derail this one...

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/the-loss-of-creativity-as-technology-rises.936298/

 

[symbolipoint]

jedishrfu,
I like your last great post #44, but it is not the titled topic of "Toxic toys...". Your posting deserves a new topic. Maybe along the lines of "creativity and technological and societal changes".

 

[jedishrfu]

jedishrfu,
I like your last great post #44, but it is not the titled topic of "Toxic toys...". Your posting deserves a new topic. Maybe along the lines of "creativity and technological and societal changes".

I took up your suggestion and moved it to a new thread. Thanks for suggesting that. I knew it had the potential to derail things...

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/the-loss-of-creativity-as-technology-rises.936298/