Playing with Fire: Images of Fire on Toy Packaging

Abstract

Despite prevention efforts designed to teach children that fire is not a toy, each year hundreds of children, primarily male, are injured while playing with fire. Mass-produced toys and games shape children's behaviors, and the fire images on toy packaging may send the message that fire is fun rather than dangerous. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of male fire-related injuries at our burn center and to investigate the use of fire images in toy packaging. An aisle-by-aisle search was conducted at a national toy store. Toys with fire images on their packaging were identified. Target gender and the setting in which the fire was displayed also were recorded. Only toys with clearly visible flames on their packaging were included. We reviewed our TRACS database from April 1997 to May 1999 for fire-related injuries to children admitted to our institution as a result of playing with fire. Review of toy stores revealed 404 toys with packaging containing fire images. Of these, 97% (393 of 404) were targeted to males. Video games were the leading category of flame-related packaging (208 of 404), followed by toy car/truck displays (84 of 404). Packaging for girls' toys had safe and contained settings, whereas boys' toys used settings that were uncontrolled and associated with speed and weapons. A total of 59 children, 52 males and 7 females, with a mean age of 10 +/- 0.6 years and mean TBSA burn of 12.3 +/- 2.1% were admitted to our facility with fire-related injuries during the study interval. Children imitate life with toys and use play to experiment with new behavior. Boys are receiving a powerful, consistent message from images of fire on toy packaging. These advertisements may help to contribute to the higher incidence of fire-related injuries in boys.

A Burning Desire: Steps Toward an Evolutionary Psychology of Fire Learning

“…By way of analogy, Barrett and Behne (2005) conducted experiments showing that there are remarkable parallels between German and Shuar children in the development of an understanding of death, parallels that occur despite the fact that German children have far less exposure to actual instances of death, and have far more exposure to misinformation (e.g., cartoon portrayals of immediate recovery from catastrophic injury, etc.). Children in the U.S. are exposed to a plethora of misinformation concerning fire (Hardesty & Gayton, 2002), including numerous highly unrealistic portrayals of fire on toy packaging (Curri et al, 2003) and in television advertisements (Palmieri et al, 2004). Consider, for example, the lessons that a child might derive from a recent Taco Bell commercial in which basketball star Shaquille O'Neal is engulfed in flames, whereupon he calmly asks the camera "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"…”

Varying gender pattern of childhood injury mortality over time in Scotland

“…Boys who incur injuries tend to display higher activity levels5 14 and appear to take more risks than girls 15. Injury-prone behaviour by boys is reinforced by expectations of the male role from parents16 and society, and promoted through the media and advertising 17. Conversely, children perceive girls to have a higher risk of injury 18…”

Saturday-Morning Television: Do Sponsors Promote High-Risk Behavior for Burn Injury?

“…We have recently reported the use of fire and flames in both toy packaging and newspaper ads. 19,20 Similar to this study, these advertisements are geared to males and frequently depict flame in association with speed or power. Cars engulfed in flames, flame-throwing toys, hair on fire, and walking in flames (without sustaining burn injury) are all used to entice children (and adult consumers) to buy a product.…”