Chris, I am sorry but your Indian friends of today are not the Indians of the 1600s to the 1800s. You missed my opening the subject so I forgive you this.

Since I know that you nor anyone else will actually take the time to look it up, I offer you this from my own anthropological and palentological studies: Life in America was not the cushy socialist existence that current 'in vogue' propaganda would have you believe. There was constant warfare and raids happening between tribes of Indians in America. When a raid came, the women would run and hide (if possible) with the children. A crying squalling baby would give away a hiding place and that meant capture and slavery at the least, death as a norm. What to do, what to do?
Indian mothers of that period from day one would put their hands over the baby's mouth and nose when they first made an attempt to cry and smother them. They did this repeatedly and consistently until it was ingrained in the child that crying brought instant near death, pain, and fear. They learned to not cry, ever.

I have no doubt that your 'in vogue Indian friends' will deny this happened; but I go with the historical recordings. It happened and it was effective.

I taught my children with the same efficiency, consistency, and fearlessness. Oh, I did not prevent them from crying per se, but if they came to your house they would not touch a thing, tear up or destroy a thing, they would not make a idiotic fuss in a restaurant or store, and they ate what was on their plates. In other words they received education and discipline, and I loved them dearly.

I look at kids today, my step-grandchildren, and others that I see in public, I read of their behavior in schools, and it all makes me sick to know that people are so afraid of their own kids that they let them dictate how the home will be run.

I never said that I pass on my parenting responsibilities to a manufacturer. But, if a manufacturer sells a product which is dangerous if used as intended (and it's not an inherently dangerous product, like dynamite), then that manufacturer should be responsible for the harm caused. It's not really a question of responsibility as much as it is causation: If A hurts B, then A has to compensate B for B's harm. You seem to be saying: "If A hurts B, but C, through the exertion of sufficient effort, could have stopped such harm, then A does not have to compensate B."

I didn't find your original reference to Indian babies (was it in this comment thread?), but I have several Indian friends with babies who cry and teethe and put things in their mouths. If you have been effective at keeping your kids from doing such things, I would love to hear how you did it.

Dear sir, we could continue talking past each other for eons to no avail what-so-ever. You come from a different world than I.

"Busting the butt" of an 18-month old is hardly effective or feasible."

Now is that really true? NO. Did you read the part about the Indian babies that did not cry or squall no matter what? Did you invest even one nano second of thought to that question? No.

Teaching a child begins on day one of its life and if you think anything else then you and your children are lost….like so many I see today.

It has never been a question of when or how capable babies are of learning….the only question is when or how capable are you as a parent of teaching.

Com'on now be an honest curious person, find out how Indian mothers taught their children not to cry and when they began that instruction. Open your eyes to reality, kids can learn, do you have the courage and ability to teach?

They are your kids and you always have the primary responsibility, you can not dodge that and claim to be a truly loving and interested parent. You can not pass that off to a manufacturer or to a government and remain honest with yourself.

It's that simple and government does not need to be involved in any way.

Babies teethe. They put things in their mouths. It's part of being that age. "Busting the butt" of an 18-month old is hardly effective or feasible.

Legally, the manufacturer has the greater responsibility. If you sell something, intending that it will be put to a specific use and the product is dangerous when used in that manner, the manufacturer should be liable. Heck, it makes the most sense for the manufacturer to be liable — the manufacturer has the greatest information and control over the product and is in the best position to make sure that products are safe.

Lead Paint is an especially good example — what parent can look at a product and determine that it's been painted with lead paint? Should each parent have his/her own testing kit with which to examine toys?

I'm not claiming that parents should be absolved of responsibility — if they negligently allow their kids to play with something dangerous, they should be held responsible.

God/Nature, take your choice, didn't much care about you, me, or our kids when the world was made, and it certainly wasn't made sqeeky clean, sterile, soft, and comfy eveloping with security. No, there are things that kids can put in their mouths, sharp points all over, heavy things to fall on them, critters to bite and kill them, the list of hazards is endless. That is the world I was born into, I don't know about you. And it is an utter fallacy that young children can not and should not be taught behavior that increases their odds of growing to adulthood. Instruction in behavior can start from day one, it has been done, and has been proven to work and be effective; all without harming a single child. If you doubt this then do some research on this: when the Europeans came to the new world they observed cultures from tip to tip of the Americas where children did not cry. There were no squalling brats. And, the Europeans could not fathom it. Now do some research on why that was and you will see that teaching behavior from day one is possible if one is a true sincere loving parent who wants to see a child grow to adulthood.

The reason it isn't done is that parents today refuse to accept their responsibility to be stronger than their kids and to teach their kids. The worst part of it is that we have developed a society, a culture in this country that encourages parents to be cowards when dealing with their kids.

What we have now is make a plethora of laws to criminalize everything and push the responsibility off on to the state. There is a name for this way of life. It is called socialism….the state is God and has all responsibility so it isn't necessary for you, STRB, to take the time or make the effort to teach and discipline your kids or grandkids.

A Reagan conservative, yet your words as written in comments show over and over just how cozy you can be with the socialist view point.

The truth is frequently rude, and my truth remains: if your child or grandchildren reach age three without having learned not to put potentially harmful things in their mouth then one of two things is true, and I stated those options above.

And, Chris, of course the toys were targeted for small children…..they are called toys. Toys are for the amusment of small minds: But, dear sir, so what? Does that alleviate you of your parental responsibility to make sure it is safe if safety is a worry to you? If you buy a toy for your child that has issues where the safety is a doubt in your mind and you do not personally tug, push, twist, and squeeze until you are satisfied then who has the greater responsibility if your child does twist off such as a magnet and swallow it, you or the manufacturer? I don't care if there is lead in the paint, your child would have to eat an enormous amount of it before he could get enough in his system to harm him, and My God, if you haven't noticed him doing it before then and busted his butt good for chewing on his toys, then who has the greater responsibility you or the manufacturer?

As the world is just so big and hazardous, with so many things that can harm the human body, it just makes more sense to me to teach youngsters from the git'go to not put things in their mouths, stuff 'em in their ears, poke their eyes out with sharp objects and to handle those sharp objects with care, not to put their hands in fire, or stick hairpins in electrical sockets, not to attempt to play with snakes or spiders of any kind etc. etc…….rather than use the government to pass laws against the very earth itself in our seeking of safety for kids without our own personal responsiblity being called out.