Bats don't kill people. People kill people with bats.

[hardheadjarhead]

So...do we ban aluminum baseball bats due to their inherent dangers to children?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0422/p01s01-ussc.html

As tragic as it is to lose a child this way...indeed any way...the numbers of deaths for this are ridiculously low given the large numbers of Little Leaguers playing this game.

There are about 1,500 fatal accidents a year for children ten to fourteen...it is the leading cause of death in children accounting for about 38% of the total deahs of kids.

But line drives? Far more children die in swimming pools and on bikes.

Opinions?



Regards,


Steve

 

[Andrew Green]

Not to mention that this was a "18-year-old"...

People die, it's part of who we are. Never has there been a time in history where no one got killed doing recreational activities, it's not common, but it happens. It sucks, but it happens.

Take away everything that is "dangerous" and then sit back and wonder why we got a nation of kids sitting in front of tv's and video games eating dorritos and getting diabetes....

Media loves to jump in on anything negative, or anything that gets people afraid, especially if it can make them afraid of a very common and safe activity.

 

[arnisador]

We had a discussion here once about bringing back lawn jarts, I believe...

 

[BrandiJo]

i played with aluminim bats, i got hit a few times with the ball it hurt but its life, you cant go around making everything perfectly safe.

 

[arnisador]

I remember getting hit in the throat and chest my first two times at bat (the picture was as new as I was!) and being shy about batting for the rest of the season! I was ratehr young at the time.

 

[Andrew Green]

Lawn Darts where fun

and as long as you followed the basic common sense rules of safety you where fine.

I think I had a much higher chance doing something dangerous on my bike... ok, I DID do a few dangerous things...

But why teach saftey when you can lock people in a rubber room right?

 

[MA-Caver]

Lawn Darts where fun

and as long as you followed the basic common sense rules of safety you where fine.

I think I had a much higher chance doing something dangerous on my bike... ok, I DID do a few dangerous things...

But why teach saftey when you can lock people in a rubber room right?

It's the idiots that don't follow safety rules that get things banned, recalled, condemned, closed, denied insurance, and so on. That's why we have the darwin awards; to show (other) people just how stupid some people can be.
I've been going caving for almost 30 years and have had a few (ahem) minor accidents but never one that required a full blown out rescue. I've been on some though. It's inheirently dangerous and considered one of the top ten "risk" sports out there. But it's only as dangerous as the person doing it, like anything else. The safety factor is determined by the person doing it. But it's almost impossible to find any type of liabilty insurance for it otherwise I'd be running a cave-for-hire business.
I've always said: it takes just one person to screw it (whatever it may be) for the rest of us.
Tragic as the loss is, the accident should serve to teach rather instill fear. Suppose it was an accidental blow to the throat during a martial arts class (Karate/TKD/Whatever), are they going to ban MA? If we learn from mistakes we're less likely to do them again.

 

[kid]

When i was younger there was a baseballfeild across the street of where i lived. Well one day we got all of my brothers and some neigbor kids to play baseball i was the catcher. I was about 8 yrs old and my brother was up to bat he six yrs older than me. any ways as he was swinging i noticed that the ball wasnt going to make the plate so i hoped forward a bit and as the ball hit my love the aluminum bat hit my head. i was out for a couple seconds and when i came too i didn't know what happened. i went home and mom washed up the blood and put a baseball cap on my head and i went to play more baseball. i think a wooden bat would have done the same damage.


kid

 

[JDenz]

It is retarded. Everyone should try and coach a kids sport before they condem kids for not being athletic. There is so much ********to go through just to be able to do it then you have a huge liability issue no wonder it is getting harder and harder to keep kids in sports.

 

[modarnis]

It is certainly terrible that a young person lost their life. The facts do beg the question, would a line drive at the same trajectory, off a wooden bat, have still delivered a fatal blow? Sometimes accidents are just accidents. Many products, used exactly as they were designed, have risks. Like most choices, risks and rewards need to be balanced

 

[Lisa]

Wooden bats cause all sorts of problems too. My husband used to pitch on his fastball team when he was a teenager. Bat broke and splintered sending a good chunk of it straight at him. Needless to say his nose is somewhat bigger and crooked these days. It doesn't matter what safety precautions we put on sports there will always be the chance that someone will either not follow some common sense rules or that an accident will happen. Tragic but true.

 

[Jade Tigress]

When I was 13 a group of us were playing softball at the park. I was catcher and my younger non-athletic sister was up to bat. Well, surprise, surpise she actually hit the ball.

In her excitement racing to first base she sent the wood bat flying backwards where is struck me right in the forehead. It knocked me out for a few seconds. I ended up in the ER with a lump making my entire forehead look like Frankenstein and a concussion which kept my mother waking me up every two hours all night long.

Accidents happen. The only sure way to prevent an accident from happening is to not do anything at all. Heck, even video games can cause seizures in some people with a certain type of epilepsy. How the heck do you know? Life has it's risks.

 

[Gemini]

First, I have to say loosing a child is the worst thing a parent could have to go through and my heart goes out to them. Mourn in whatever way you need to, then get back to reality. Bad things happen all the time. The worst thing you can do is be over protective. The more things that can get your child, the more likely your child is gonna get got. Even under close supervision, bad things can happen. That's what happened to the Patchs'.

You can't ban everything that may cause harm. I've know 2 kids that went in for a tonsilectomy that never woke up. Ban Tonsilectomies? 4 that were killed when struck byt lightning. Ban Lightning? Hit by cars, drown, it goes on and on. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be investigated. I'm just saying it has to be kept in perspective. Unfortunate tragedy is part of the world we live in.

 

[TonyM.]

We ban aluminum bats because of the awfull noise they make when they contact a ball. Actually aluminum bats are a stupid idea as many children have been struck by lightning because of them.

 

[Andrew Green]

Then ban golf clubs too.

 

[JDenz]

anytime you play a sport you take that risk. RIght on the wavor for sports they say you can suffer serious injury includding death.

 

[arnisador]

If the lightning issue is correct, I find that more compelling.

 

[Kane]

So...do we ban aluminum baseball bats due to their inherent dangers to children?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0422/p01s01-ussc.html

As tragic as it is to lose a child this way...indeed any way...the numbers of deaths for this are ridiculously low given the large numbers of Little Leaguers playing this game.

There are about 1,500 fatal accidents a year for children ten to fourteen...it is the leading cause of death in children accounting for about 38% of the total deahs of kids.

But line drives? Far more children die in swimming pools and on bikes.

Opinions?



Regards,


Steve

Kinda similar to the whole idea for guns. The famous quote "Guns don't kill people, People kill people" somewhat applies to this situation as well. Considering guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people.

Of course there are also psychological reason why a gun might help raise the death toll such as it is easier to shoot someone than beat someone to death. However the situation is still the same. I havn't made up my mind about guns, but I know for that bats should not be banned for kids. It is ridiculous imo, because like what the thread named "Bats don't kill people. People kill people with bats."

 

[JDenz]

lol did you even read the thread lol =-P

 

[MA-Caver]

Kinda similar to the whole idea for guns. The famous quote "Guns don't kill people, People kill people" somewhat applies to this situation as well. Considering guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people.

Of course there are also psychological reason why a gun might help raise the death toll such as it is easier to shoot someone than beat someone to death. However the situation is still the same. I havn't made up my mind about guns, but I know for that bats should not be banned for kids. It is ridiculous imo, because like what the thread named "Bats don't kill people. People kill people with bats."

Nah, listen to Charlton Heston when he says: Guns don't kill people... APES with guns kill people!"