Fans of “Saturday Night Live may” remember the classic sketch in which a toy company president played by Dan Aykroyd pitches hazardous children’s toys, including a bag of glass and a doll that turns into a switchblade.
SLIDESHOW: Consumer Advocates’ Most Dangerous Toys of 2015
But dangerous toys are no joke to World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH), a safety watchdog that has selected the most potentially harmful toys each holiday season for the last 43 years.
The list is compiled by lawyers Joan Siff and James Swartz. “It’s a teaching tool for parents to see what the hazards look like,” says Swartz.
This year, it includes items like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Sword that WATCH says is hard enough to cause serious injury to a child struck by it. The group also cites a black dart gun that looks too much like the real thing.
The group is not without its critics. The Toy Industry Association has disputed that toys on prior and similar lists are harmful. It noted that WATCH does not physically test the toys; that none of the toys on previous lists have been recalled by the government; and that toys sold in the U.S. must meet more than 100 federal safety requirements.
Despite the precautions, a child gets treatment for a toy-related injury every three minutes, with more than half of such injuries occurring among children under age five, according to a report released last year by the Center for Injury Research and Policy and Nationwide Children’s Hospital. So it’s good to be careful when buying holiday gifts for children.
