Free Seeds from Children's Society - V. important info

cyber-kisses

thanks for the warning - was gonna plant mine tomorrow with the kids will have to explain and go and buy some "safe" seeds.

*Jelly_Tots*

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tbs624 wrote: »

Jelly Tots - it's everyone's responsibility as a parent to look out for their own children's safety, not simply to rely on someone else doing it on their behalf or to blame someone else's lack of forethought. Why not just assume that all plants, seeds, bulbs are poisonous & act with due caution, teaching your kids to do likewise?

There's are a couple of useful words that most parents are able to use to great effect now and again : "No" and " don't" ........really helpful if your toddler likes chomping on dog excrement, or the odd slug,or anything else that's non-too healthy for them.. If you can't get them to not touch certain plants( or take special care around them) , how will you ever teach them not to touch anything else that may harm them? Seized the cat's tail and she bit you/scratched you - "damn that cat , it had no warning on its collar about that sort of behaviour or the possibility of getting cat scratch fever........"

I'd agree that there probably should have been a warning note attached if the seeds were sent specifically for family gardening but it really is about people taking a measure of responsibility for themselves & their own kids. Nothing is 100% safe, and some people are more likely to have reactions to some things than others.

Hyacinth and daffodil bulbs are poisonous and yet how many kids have their first experience of the plant world with either of these? The good old hyacinth bulb in its glass jar seemed to form part of many a nursery school’s “nature table” - I don’t recall seeing a warning.Oak leaves with their acorns were there too....

Rhubarb leaves are poisonous; apricots, cherries, peaches & apples all have seeds containing cyanide; green/sprouting potatoes contain the poison solanine. Buttercups, holly, sweet peas, tomato leaves ….the list can go on an on.


so they want to abdicate their responsibilities for what they do, along with the safety of their children, in their own home/garden to someone else?

. I'd agree with you, as I mentioned above, but that applies right across the board, so let's label every plant/seed with "could cause a reaction if eaten, touched, smelt etc.", in fact let's apply it to *everything, everywhere* ?? I'm pretty sure that eventually anything we use will be so covered with cautionary labelling that most people will actually cease to read any of the labels. Some people even have allergic reactions to their own garden gloves....seriously, it's the dyes/treatments etc used with some leather ones....it's a dangerous thing altogether, this gardening lark, and that's before you get the chainsaw out..................

Look around your home - pretty certain that you'll find much there that could cause serious harm if touched swallowed etc, including many common houseplants. (Ever wondered about that absorbent gel inside those marvellous environmentally unfriendly disposable nappies, or the effect on your baby's lungs of the talc that you maybe smother over your kids ....?)

If you're ever in the North East go to Alnwick Castle and check out their magnificent Poison Garden (most definitely labelled) but if you can't use common sense & properly supervise your kids in a garden maybe you better leave them with granny who probably can

That's all I'm saying

Ellie

The point is, these seeds were promoted for families - that just about says it all.
These seeds are not (to my knowledge) common run of the mill seeds, so not everyone would know that they can/could cause reactions. Its far better to have some kind of warning than nothing at all. After all even biscuits with nuts in have warning that they may contain pieces of nut that could be potentially dangerous to children. Companies need to cover themselves in every instance these days.
I taught my child not to touch nettles because they cause nasty reactions, if you don't know how can you warn your child?!

Fern_Merkin

wasting_noalibi wrote: »

oh !!!!!! - now ive really seen it all :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

cats are a lot more sensible than humans on what they do and dont chew - at least apparently more so than plenty of posters on this thread!:rolleyes:

You really don't know what you're talking about, do you?

tbs624

Ellie wrote: »

.......I taught my child not to touch nettles because they cause nasty reactions, if you don't know how can you warn your child?!

:rolleyes:

as I said before.......

tbs624 wrote: »

...........Why not just assume that all plants, seeds, bulbs are poisonous & act with due caution, teaching your kids to do likewise?...

It really couldn't be much simpler....


How is your child ever going to learn to safeguard themselves from everyday dangers if they are taught that unless something/everything is labelled by some "authority" as "safe" or "unsafe", then the adults around them are incapable of making any decisions based on good old-fashioned c -o-m-m-o-n s-e-n-s-e?

Ellie

tbs624 - I'm never going to agree (and neither are u), so I think its an agree to disagree situation.

spendingspree, thanks for the heads up!

kim_ley

tbs i disagree too i dont think you should tell your children all plants are dangerous as nature is something to be enjoyed... its not likely they will come to harm by the plants the come accross in everyday life unless of course its a nettle or something. or they eat it but you would tell them not to eat them anyway! I cant believe the childrens society sent these seeds out without checking! i dread to think how many people have recieved them and planted them unaware!

KeithP

So...
has anyone had a response from The Children's Society?