Toxic Toys
Tribune de Genève, 11 December 2012
This year, Father Christmas is bringing toxic gifts. Among these, the Vtech Storio 2 tablet, designed for children aged 3 to 9. The use of these electronic "toys" can generate language, reading and writing difficulties in young children. These tablets are made in Vtech factories in China under deplorable conditions for employees, according to a report published by the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. Employees work standing up 12 to 15 hours a day, six days a week, for a salary below the minimum wage. They suffer health problems created by exposure to toxic dilutants used to clean circuit boards.
It is time that parents behave as responsible consumers by no longer buying electronic toys that are "toxic" to the workers who make them and to the development of the young children who use them.
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