A father with a child at Springfield Elementary School begged school trustees on Tuesday to recall Boosterthon Invisible Ink Pens for safety concerns.
John Garrett spoke to Fort Mill trustees during a Tuesday night meeting, saying his child came home with the pen from the Boosterthon fundraisers. He said it’s unsafe, and the lights are dangerous and can injure the child’s eye. Garrett said he has worked for two weeks to contact school and Boosterthon officials with no luck after pleading for the recall of the item.
During his 3-minute talk on Tuesday night, Garrett said he was upset at the lack of action and was shaking from the adrenalin caused by this issue. “Please recall the pens!” he said.
Trustees did not respond to his request Tuesday night. In a statement Wednesday, the district declined the parent’s request, saying they have not seen a problem with it.
“Based on the information supplied by Boosterthon regarding the safety of the toy, we do not plan to recall the toy at this time,” said Communications Officer Joe Burke.
The pens are part of the prizes that elementary-age students can win from Boosterthon as part of the PTO Fun Run events, which help raise money to support school projects. Some Fort Mill schools have already held their fun runs while others have upcoming events.
Here is the statement Boosterthon provided to the school district when asked about the prizes given to students:
“The safety of our prizes is of the utmost importance and we would not allow the invisible ink pen to be distributed to students nationwide if there were any issues or concerns regarding its safety. All prizes are tested for safety and quality, and the invisible ink pen passed all tests. Booster has been using these pens over the course of many years in our programs without any incidents of the light or anything else causing harm. With that, the pens are tested with each purchase to ensure the quality remains to our safety standards.
“The bulb inside of the invisible ink pen is a very small, standard LED light bulb; similar to any light bulb you can find to put in a household light fixture or a flashlight. That being said, we strongly advise not using the pen in any method other than it’s intended use. The light bulb should not be shone into a person’s eye for any extended amount of time, the tip of the pen should not be ingested or placed in a person’s mouth, and the pen should not be used to inflict harm. If used correctly, the invisible ink pen is a fun and safe way for students to write secret messages to each other.“