Reception children being taught how to use sparklers safely. WITH REAL SPARKELERS

[FrameyMcFrame]

Apparently they're going to be practising name writing and letter formation with sparklers!?!?
Isn't that just asking for trouble?
A permission slip has come home, I really don't want my 4 year old using a sparkler. So I won't be giving permission, but am I being unreasonable to think that it's an insane idea?

I think the advice to not give sparkers to under 5s is ridiculous. My dc have had them from about 3- under very close supervision, with a bucket of water next to them, so they can drop the sparkler in it when it goes out.

Sparklers are magical for young children. Of course they should be allowed to use them.

OP go and speak to the teacher.
Get some reassurance about the adult/child ratio. I'm sure it wil be done in small groups with lots of supervision.

I agree excuse

Having an age limit start at around the time many will "grow out" of using something is very ridiculous.

the stakes are high with sparklers, and not so much with conkers.

Really? I'd suspect the risks are vanishingly small in both cases. With conkers there's a very, very small risk of eye injury (there's no evidence it's ever happened, but the possibility is there). With sparklers there's a small risk of a localised burn, which is reduced essentially to zero by wearing gloves. What are the high stakes that you think sparklers produce? The guidance on fireworks is generic, and sparklers are at the distinctly less risky end of it.

It sounds like a really good idea to me.

I do worry about the risks of wrapping our children up in quite so much cotton wool these days. I think children do need to be allowed to take (small) risks occasionally, it's an important part of their development.

friday, the guidance isn't generic; the guidance says 'do not give sparklers to children under 5'.

As a child growing-up in the 1960s some of the most valuable safety lessons involved bruises, grazed knees and even the odd burn.

Friday16... Hundreds of children are injured every year from sparklers, the majority of them are under 5! Sparklers burn intensely at a temperature that is much higher than boiling water so the burns are deeper and more serious.
Burns to the face and eyes are devastating. Is it really worth the risk? Not really the same as conkers or toasters.
Maybe I'm a big judges pants but I think the guide age is there for a reason, sorry I haven't really changed my mind but I'm glad to read all the opinions, even though most don't agree with mine.

I do have other problems with the school as well as this which I won't go into unless you really want me to!!! Suffice to say it's safety and supervision related.
And by the way, this is not in AIBU, it's in Primary Education even though I did ask if I was unreasonable to feel this way.

If you're not happy with their safety and supervision in general then I can see why you wouldn't be keen on this.

But please ask to see their risk assessment and activity plan. You never know, it might surprise you! :)

To be honest I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is - most people would be happy with something like this, so the school are going along with the majority and offering an activity most people are supportive off.

They recognise however that a minority of parents wouldn't be happy about such an activity, and have given such parents an opt-out.

Problem? Issue? Where?

Hundreds of children are injured every year from sparklers, the majority of them are under 5!

As our wiki friends would say, "citation needed". The only figures I could find are here, which say that around 100 people per year (ie, not "hundreds") are injured by sparklers, about half of those being under sixteen. There aren't any figures I can find that break that down by whether they were supervised, or by whether they were under 5. In any event, national statistics haven't been compiled since 2005. If anyone has figures on the number of children injured by sparklers which they are using whilst supervised by adults, that would put a scale on the problem.

Hundreds of children are injured every year from sparklers

Yes they are.

So..... lets get them educated as early as possible in how to use them safely because a significant number of them will be handed a packet and left to get on with it in the next few weeks and the more they understand the better.

Friday16 google images "sparkler injury", then google images "conker injury". I wouldn't say the risks were vanishingly small for sparklers.

Hundreds of children die crossing roads each year.

So a) let's teach our reception age children the green cross code, or
b) refuse to sign the permission form allowing our reception children to be taken outside the school gate to learn how to cross roads safely.

Crossing roads is a risk we can't avoid.
Playing with sparklers is a risk we can avoid.

Anniemouse, the first hit is a photograph of a penetrating wound from the explosion of a large black powder bomb built to project large numbers of sparklers into the air; I don't know about your fireworks parties, but we tend to go easy on illegally held explosives (Americans, you know). The second is unlabelled, but is from an article mostly about barbecue injuries. The third shows some superficial skin burns which wouldn't arise in the winter (Americans use sparklers on 4th of July). The final image of injuries is from a sarcastic article suggesting that as illegal fireworks injure about as many people as sparklers, you may as well use illegal ones because "wouldn’t you much rather get hurt by an M-80 than a sparkler? Chicks dig M-80 scars."

Miss Piggie's cute, though.

Framey - I would also be very wary of this. I don't think people understand how hot sparklers are and how hot they remain after they have gone out. If things go wrong, that's a scar for life (not to mention the agony of deep burns).

I was badly burned on the hand by a sparkler as a kid.
It was dark and I did not realise I'd picked the wrong end up.

How much safer would if have been if I'd learned about sparklers in broad daylight with no strangers around and no scary fireworks and no big bonfires to distract me?

The school are doing the right thing - support them.

I don't think people understand how hot sparklers are and how hot they remain after they have gone out.

So teaching them, in a supervised environment, would be quite a good idea, yes?

i would be perfectly happy for ds2 ( who is 4 but in preschool) to do this.

My older 2 have super knowledge of how to behave around fireworks, partly as a result of the work their school has done with them over the years.

DC have all used sparklers from about age 3, under close supervision, wearing gloves and next to a bucket of water.

Is a sparkler a firework? I think good on school for taking on the responsibility I'm sure it will be well handed and the earlier they know about the dangers the better. We would be doing the same at home.

A very easy way to make sure that spent sparklers are not picked up again is to have all children put them in to a bucket with water when they are done.

I think it's a great idea.

Not only do the kids have a novel way to form letters, they learn about safety too.

As a TA, I know the planning that would go into this, I can assure you it would be structured and those children who maybe aren't so 'able' to manage things, would have hands held. I am sure the others probably will too, although it not such an obvious way.

Good for the school to allow this, ticks lots of learning boxes!

I would let a 4 year old have a sparkler if I was supervising them closely. can the school really be adequately supervising that many children with something potentially so dangerous?

OP - I'm surprised the school are going against the no under 5s guidance.

can the school really be adequately supervising that many children with something potentially so dangerous?

That's a question the OP needs to ask the school.

She needs to give them a chance to explain how they will keep her DC safe unless she doesn't actually want to know and just wants to complain about them.

Normally on these types of threads I am the one arguing for independence and not over protecting children.

But I agree that 4 is far too young to have a sparkler.