I do some marketing work for a national toy company, so I try to keep my eye at least a little bit on what’s going down in the toy industry—a task that has been quite interesting as of late. What has been happening this year? Lead paint recalls, date rape drug toys, and chinese toys made with kerosene.

So naturally, when I heard that the W.A.T.C.H. (World against toys causing harm) group had come out with their annual 10 Worst Toys list, I had to read what was on it. Much to my suprise, I found such dangerous items as a “Rubber Band Shooter”, “Spiderman 3 New Goblin Sword”, and “Hip Hoppa”. Yes, that’s right, these are the most dangerous toys of 2007: a glorified metal finger used for flinging rubber bands at your siblings is on the WATCH’s most wanted list. And a plastic sword. And the evolution of those old pogo balls that looked like Saturn. (The Hip Hoppa now includes a pogo-stick handle).

If you ask me, this is just plain ridiculous. How are the children of tomorrow supposed to have any fun at all? If something involves moving parts or something firmer than a wet noodle, society wants warning labels and cautionary statements. I remember as a child snapping rubber bands around, and no one lost an eye. Our swords were wooden () sticks or metal () tent poles. Pogo sticks used to be legal, and you could ride your bike without a helmet if you wanted. When we got hurt, we used it as a means of getting some attention, then went back to playing.

Pain is part of life, and I’d bet we cause more problems with Purell and overly-insane safety precautions that we eliminate. If you want your kid to be totally safe these days, it seems the only place is on the couch in front of the TV.

Let’s face it, pain is part of life. Let’s do what we can to mitigate the major dangers of life, but let’s not go overboard.

Give me back the good ol’ days.