I know that it may be somewhat late to be talking about fireworks and bonfire night on the 13th of November but I have just read an article online that I straight away agreed with, and then I almost immediately wondered if perhaps my view on it was perhaps rather unreasonable?!..
The article I read was this one here - a survey carried out by UKMedix who asked 1,000 UK residents aged over 18 “Should fireworks only be sold to professional organisers and not the general public?” overall, 53% said that there should be no restrictions on who should buy fireworks as long as they were old enough, however the results showed that the older generation were leaning towards more restrictions than younger generations.
- 57% of over 45’s believe that fireworks should only be sold to professional organisers.
- 44% of women wanted the same restrictions throughout all age groups.
- 43% of 18-44 year olds did not want any restrictions on firework sales.
- 60% of parents think that fireworks should only be sold to professional organisers and not to the general public.
Now I do have a bit of a reputation for being quite 'safe', I'm not a huge risk taker when it comes to any sort of danger. And when it comes to fireworks - this is no exception. I would much rather go to a proper show where experienced professional organisers are the ones responsible for lighting the fireworks and the bonfire.
In the past I've been to many personal firework displays or parties in friends or families back gardens (including my own families), but I don't think I will ever feel comfortable with either Adam or I setting off fireworks in our own garden. And there are a few reasons why I feel this way - firstly neither of us really know what we're doing and then there's the fact that we have four cats who would absolutely hate them. And then there's the even bigger factor which is that fireworks can be extremely dangerous.
So why do I agree that fireworks should only being sold to professionals? Well this latest survey comes less than two weeks after a firefighter responding to a call in Leeds was attacked by fireworks set off by kids as he tackled a small fire on a residential street. And that's the worry isn't it? Fireworks can easily fall into the hands of the wrong people - and they often seem to. And I know it's the same as knives falling into the hands of wrong people, but personally I just think there's just something about fireworks that makes certain people go somewhat silly with them and they end up hurting other people, animals or themselves.
I know and respect that there are so many families that enjoy a safe and fun fireworks party in their back garden and so maybe that's why I think my view is slightly unreasonable, but personally I'd love to see some sort of stricter control over the sale of fireworks going forward - whatever that may be.
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Really interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI`m not 100% decided what my view is - We always go to a little bonfire party at my sisters house and she does small fireworks (Usually just a £10 box so they only have the little ones that sit on the floor and spray colours, none that shoot off into the sky etc!) - I like doing that because her children are quite scared of big fireworks so they cant go to displays, but at least this way they still get to see some.
But on the other hand, they do often fall into the wrong hands - I've had a firework thrown out of a car at me and my friend when I was a teenager and it was so scary!
I`ve also been at a party where drunk people where operating them and been hit in the eye by one that fired off the wrong way! I could have been blinded, so that was bloody scary and just shows that even adults dont always use them safely.
I dont really know what the answer is! xx
I *think* I agree with you, they are just so dangerous in the wrong hands. I've read so many stories about them being thrown at people, with one even being thrown into a house! But on the flip side I remember when we were children as there's a big age gap between my brother & I and our sister, we would stand in the garden with our parents whist the baby was in bed so we wouldn't have enjoyed so many Bonfire Nights had they been restricted xx
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