Parents of babies and young children tend to be incredibly busy people. If they are not working or pursuing their own interests, they are playing with their kids, running them to the doctor, making them food or are otherwise engaged in the act of parenting. It is of little wonder then that certain messages aimed at parents of babies and young children are not always properly received, because these individuals rarely have time to intently read every single notice and public service announcement that may affect them.
This communication challenge has made one child safety organization extremely concerned. Because while it is understandable that parents are very busy, the organization Kids in Danger has noticed that many are too busy to either check for or respond to critical safety recall notices affecting dangerous toys and other defective child and infant products.
According to a recent report compiled by Kids in Danger, only one out of every 10 child and infant products recalled from the market are returned or replaced. Some parents are not notified of these recalls, while others may stumble across some information about a recall but do not feel the need to act upon it with any sense of urgency.
The organization is urging manufacturers of recalled products to increasingly utilize social media as a means of notifying parents about recalls. Given that many parents connect with friends, family and organizations over social media, this push makes sense. In addition, it is important for parents to not only act on recalls that they are notified about but also to consistently search for the latest recalled products. Many products purchased second-hand are recalled and searching for recall updates is generally the only way that parents can reliably remain informed about these specific recall efforts.
Source: USA Today, “Only 10% of recalled kids products fixed or returned,” Alicia McElhaney, Feb. 21, 2014