The Yunlin County Education Department has moved to ban a popular 3D-printable toy knife from schools, citing concerns that the plastic blades pose a danger to child safety.
The toy, dubbed “carrot knife,” was a viral DIY item on TikTok and sold at toy stores nationwide, but public concern began to mount in September after videos on social media showed that it could pierce an apple.
Education officials on Oct. 24 ordered the county’s 187 public elementary, junior-high and senior-high schools to forbid the toys on campuses, department Commissioner Chiu Hsiao-wen (邱孝文) said on Wednesday.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
The department issued a ban on the toys, along with a mandate to enhance safety education after receiving reports from teachers that the toys were dangerous, he said.
The order came a day after a group message sent by Chiao Chen Elementary School faculty in the county’s Dounan Township (斗南) alerted parents to the dangerous toys.
The plastic toys have a sharp point that could cause harm in the hands of children aged seven to eight, who lack the sense to be careful when playing, school principal Tsai Shu-ling (蔡淑玲) said.
The school has published leaflets to warn parents about the toy knives and told students at morning assemblies that such objects are not allowed on campus, she said.
A Kaohsiung Education Bureau spokesperson said the municipal agency has also ordered schools to enhance safety education and the regulation of dangerous objects on campus, in reference to the toys.
New Taipei City Councilor Chiang I-chen (江怡臻) over the weekend called on the city government to devise a policy to take the toys out of circulation while also banning them from schools, adding that the toy could be bought cheaply from stores frequented by children.
New Taipei City Acting Mayor Liu He-jan (劉和然) said the city is urgently organizing parent-teacher meetings to discuss the kind of regulations and rules needed to protect students.
Jurisdiction schools have been informed that they should stop children from taking the toys to school, New Taipei City Education Department Commissioner Chang Ming-wen (張明文) said.
Additional reporting by Hsu Li-chuan and Huang Tzu-yang
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