Viewpoint|”A real knife hidden in a ballpoint pen”? Ensuring the safety of children’s stationery urgently needs full-chain supervision

A few days ago, a video uploaded by a parent in Henan, “The ballpoint pen bought at the school gate hides a real knife” appeared on the trending search, attracting the attention of netizens.

From the appearance, the pen in the video is no different from the ordinary ballpoint pen in terms of size, specification, weight and color. But when one end of the pen cap was pulled off, what was exposed was a thumb-long blade, which caused many netizens to exclaim, “If it is taken by children to play, it will be a family tragedy every minute.”

The superposition of various factors such as danger and concealment makes the safety hazard of this “pen knife” not to be underestimated. In the reporter’s demonstration, this “pen knife” can easily pierce 20 stacked A4 papers, and its sharpness can be seen. The lack of warning signs and the appearance similar to a ballpoint pen also make it successfully “invisible”, even if it enters the campus, it is difficult to be found. Especially in the case of many young students who lack safety awareness, if the “pen knife” is used to make trouble without knowing the severity, and then seek compensation measures after causing an accident, it will be “too late to regret”.

The existence of dangerous stationery is nothing new, and this report of “knife hidden in the pen” only revealed a small corner. Last year, the Hefei Institute of Material Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences tested and analyzed the disassembled parts of four brands of scented highlighters on the market one by one, and found 10 toxic substances including the highly toxic substance acrylonitrile; A girl was swept into the eyes by a so-called “children’s experimental prop” laser pointer, causing irreversible visual damage…

These dangerous stationery should not appear in the hands of students under any circumstances. But why did they swagger and enter the campus unimpeded, and why did they become a “good business” that can sell hundreds of pieces a month for some stationery store owners?

According to the survey, this “pen knife” was originally sold for cutting cigars, and some design manufacturers said in interviews that they wanted to make a “self-defense device that can pass security checks.” Regardless of the purpose, its target audience is adults, but for the purpose of increasing product exposure, some merchants pile up keywords such as “students” and “stationery” on the introduction page of the shopping platform, coupled with weak platform supervision, so The danger of “stationery” is that it may be developed into a purchase channel by campus stationery stores, or it may be directly ordered by students through the Internet.

In fact, on the issue of children’s stationery safety, relevant regulations have been issued. In February of this year, the newly revised “General Safety Requirements for Student Supplies” came into effect, making requirements for the production standards of school supplies. However, the emergence of “a knife hidden in a pen” reminds us once again that there are still omissions in the supervision of the children’s stationery market. From production to quality inspection, and then to distribution, the safety of the whole chain needs to be more powerfully guaranteed. In addition to implementing the current production standards, the sales process also needs to be paid more attention to, and more detailed rules and regulations should be introduced. At the same time, key inspections of stationery stores near campuses and communities should be strengthened, and hidden sales behaviors should be banned in a timely manner.

On the other side of the dangerous stationery production and sales chain, students usually have a curiosity-seeking mentality, but lack the corresponding ability to distinguish. In addition, no matter it is seal cutting, handbook or woodblock print, tools like “pen knife” are needed. It is unrealistic to let “sharp objects” disappear completely on campus, so safety education from parents and schools is also indispensable. Only by making underage students truly realize the great danger of “hiding a knife in a pen” and making two-way efforts can we block the flow of dangerous stationery from the external market.

Stationery is small, but it is the object that accompanies students for the longest time. There is no room for carelessness. It is the responsibility of all adults to keep the bottom line of children’s stationery safety. On the way of learning up and down, every child should not be stumbled by such “blockers”.

(Author: Zhang Erdong, Source: Guangming.com Current Review Channel)