The school have successfully ruined bonfire night for my DS

[goingupinsmoke]

I'm wondering AIBU, I'm sat her pretty peed off. DH and I arranged to put our dogs with a friend and we bought a small selection of fireworks for the back garden, these were low noise tame ones DS are 8 & 5. It was supposed to be a surprise!!

So the boys come out and are scared to death of the fireworks, and started to tell us the school have been talking all day about the danger, they have shown my DS 8 pictures of people with burnt faces, he described the eyelids all burnt, people with burnt tummys and one picture of someone missing a leg.

Don't get me started on sparklers, Oh no mum we are not allowed them, look my coat has big sleeves, our gloves aren't the correct type.

Sod this over protective nonsense, there is safety then there is scaring kids stupid and wrecking something that should be fun.

Opinions??

Sizy thats exactly what we did? we did set them safely, but we had two boys wobbling, is it over is it finished, its really dangerous, what if they fall on us, we will get burnt, my face will melt ... and on and on.... I don't want a sparkler, have you got the bucket of water ready, is dad far enough away.... dad don;t go back to light the next one....my sleeves are too long for that type of sparkler... i don't like the noise...... oh its smokey......... dad.....

not much fun really

yanbu, I think fireworks in the garden are fine if you obsere the normal safety precautions

the pictures the op described seemed very shocking indeed.

Flisspaps thanks for the summary - I'm still here listening!! at least I'm not one of the AIBU.

Never to be seen again.

I haven't said "I don't think IABU"

Setting mini bombs "safely" is ridiculous. Your boys are right to be afraid of them. All it takes is for one to be slightly dodgy, to go off early, to go in the wrong direction and the boys could witness their dad being very seriously hurt.

Fireworks aren't an essential part of life. Your sons don't like them. GET OVER IT.

I'd have a problem with this as well I'd have to say.

I know letting off fireworks is right up there with smoking as the-worst-thing-a-human-being-could-ever-possibly-do on mumsnet though.

This might interest you OP

Fireworks!

Some exciting fun in the back garden on a cold damp night.

Only a daft bugger chooses to ignore the hazards!

lots of things that are inessential are potentially dangerous
I like the tradition, personally

I bought fireworks this year and have used some but I do think the school did the right thing.

You're kids might learn from you the dangers but others at the school might not. The boys in the house that backs on to us and just to the side were letting rockets off today from their bedroom window. I was walking up my path and they were being shot in my direction, seriously terrified.

If those pictures can sway even 1 person from doing that when they would have before they seen them then it's worth it.

Your boys will get over it, others might be seriously injured or killed if they didn't do these type of lessons, even if it's extreme. Not to mention the poor animals. :(

I used to do research into the number of A and E admissions each year involving fireworks. It was fucking scary stuff. Really it is a scandal that they are available over the counter but no Government would dare touch the issue for fear of looking like killjoys. So every year without fail- deaths and injuries for statisticians like me to pore over.

The problem is the tradition for fireworks has led to fireworks getting bigger and bigger and more and more dangerous. Supermarkets are selling fireworks that cost £500 which people can set off in their own back gardens - I struggle to see how anyone can see that as safe?

Hopefully being frightened now, will mean they won't be daft enough to play with them when they are older.

DH has already had fireworks thrown at him tonight - it's probably the only night I worry about him going to work.

Not a new thing. We had them every year at primary school. One of the policemen used to start off by saying "don't put fireworks up your nose"... everyone would giggle, and he'd continue from there. Very memorable he was-I can still quote part of the talk he gave in year 1.
We got shown pictures of people-usually children who'd been injured too.

Didn't scare me really, and I was a child who easily scared, but gave me a healthy respect for such things, which I think was the aim.

Of course back in those days anyone could buy fireworks. It was only recently the age limit was brought in.

And I know the OP was only letting off small ones but too many don't and schools need to make sure children are aware of the dangers because even the small ones can be the dangerous, the big ones can be deadly.

I stood with my family round the bonfire with sparklers (children aged 4-13) watching all our fireworks while smoking a fag

Beat THAT!

And I agree with the posters who have mentioned how wreckless it is that they are sold over the counter here, I don't look very old, I'm really short and I am only 21 and I wasn't even asked to produce ID to prove my age to buy them when the same shop asks me to prove my age for alcohol and this was a big supermarket...

£500? good god
I was thinking of maybe a few of those little sherbet fountains and a feeble kind of rocket

your kids smoke bub?

We always go to a public display for safety etc though even there I was at one where quite a few folk were very seriously injured and one guy had his leg amputated. Fireworks are not to be taken lightly.

I think I feel safer in my garden tbh

£500!! blimey I think ours were about £20.

We've had small boxes of fireworks to set off in the garden before and sparklers for years and managed not to have any accidents or burn anyone.

My kids school did lessons on being safe around them - they were taught the firework code, made posters, etc they weren't scared out of their wits

sky goggles to wave the sparklers

Are you serious!