Are Texas Kids Dumb Enough To Swallow Magnets?

A magnet set has been recalled by Walmart.

Here's What's Happening

Over the holidays the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for magnetic ball playsets. The balls were sold all stuck together in a cube. Children would then rearrange the magnetic balls by colors or even into new shapes. It sounds like it's creative, fun play but some unsupervised kids have ruined It for everyone.

Isn't that A Bit Harsh?

No, it kind of isn't. Imagine if I gave you the goal to remove everything in your house that your kid could put in thier mouth. Seriously, what if you were tasked to remove every single item you own smaller than a golf ball?  You would no longer have batteries, paper clips, and hundreds of other small items.

Here's The Rub With The Balls

The technicality these magnetic balls were called on that allowed for the recall was that the magnets in them were "too strong". It's being presumed that if a child is going to eat one, they're going to go ahead and make a meal of them, creating possible blockages when the balls stick together with their magnetic properties.

This Is Nanny State Nonsense

It would be tragic if one child was injured by these magnetic balls. It would also be tragic if one kid was injured because they swallowed a bottlecap or a pebble from the backyard. It would be equally bad if they swallowed a jawbreaker whole. We just can't legislate a lack of parental supervision away. If you purchased some of these balls at Walmart and want more info on the recall (with less attitude) you can find out more here.