Are Researchers Reliable?

Lego toys are a child’s favorite toy. Many know about Legos around the world because it’s a popular toy brand, it stays popular with its strong and eye-catching advertisements. Not only do these toys keep the kids busy and entertained, but sometimes kids are too curious with these toys that they end up swallowing them. In the article, “These researchers swallowed Legos for science.” by Bethany Brookshire published February 2019 in Science News For Students. Brookshire shares about a research some physicians did to prove to parents that Lego toys will not harm their children if consumed. The article states how parents are hesitant and are hard to convince. So a group of physicians from Royal London Hospital in England settled a research plan to prove parents to not worry when their children happen to swallow a Lego toy. Researchers do research in order to justify their claims and provide evidence to the public. And if parents are unable to trust researchers they shouldn’t trust their kids with small toys.

To start off, researchers work in almost every area of the science field. They plan out experiments and investigations in order to answer a hypothesis or question. Parents need to be able to believe researchers because they are professionals in their field. “No matter how much Davis has tried to reassure parents, though, they kept worrying.”, (Brookshire). If parents can’t trust physicians or researchers they shouldn’t trust their kids with small toys. Parents should restrict their kids from playing with Legos if they are under the age of 6. Because when a kid swallows a Lego, their parents worry so much that they rush to the hospital, with the belief that their child might face digestive consequences. But Tessa Davis, who is an emergency pediatrician working at Royal London Hospital in England, wanted to prove to the parents that Legos can be digested. She thought of a plan; she conducted an experiment with 5 other pediatricians in order to help her prove her claim right. They each swallowed the head of a Lego figure. Then the doctors collected their feces and looked for a yellow smiley face. Dedication was key in this experiment because not many researchers would be brave enough to look for a tiny toy in their feces, “it wasn’t a fun experiment but it proved a point for parents” says Davis. This shows the tone of the article which is reaching a goal. A goal that wasn’t an easy task which required some courage and a strong gut to achieve.

Another reason why researchers are reliable is that Brookshire mentions Brian Crandall, who leads science activities for elementary-school kids at Mad Science of the Mid-Hudson in Goshen, N.Y. Crandall also has experience in consuming things for science. He was involved in a study where a scientist swallowed a whole shrew just to find out if ancient humans could have eaten small animals (Brookshire). It was clever that Brookshire was able to include another researcher that had a similar experiment with swallowing something and observe if there were any negative effects on the human body. It gives out a point to parents on how there are no limits towards researchers when wanting to prove a point and how facts should be respected.

Finally, the most important reason is research exists to prove a point. Researchers do research in order to find an answer, to find out a solution, to justify. Which Tessa Davis and her colleagues did for parents who are skeptical. Indeed, while Legos are helpful for young minds; it improves their building skills and imagination. But if parents are not careful enough to watch over their children around tiny toys and are unconvincing when physicians explain to them about the situation then they should not expose their children to Lego toys.

In conclusion, Brookshire’s article begins stating how Legos travel through the homes and yards of the kids that play with them. But on some occasions, they happen to travel inside a kids stomach. Which makes parents panic and rush them to the emergency room but they shouldn’t worry at all because it goes in and out. She brings information from Tessa Davis who’s an emergency pediatrician that conducted an experiment, in order to prove her claim to the parents. Readers can observe how far researchers can go when trying to prove a point for the public, which in this experiment was to look for a tiny Lego toy in feces. One last thing to mention is that Davis uses data from the study in the hospital in order to prove to parents that nothing will happen to their kids. “I keep a Lego head on my hospital bag and show them” — to calm their fears, she says (Brookshire).

Works Cited:
Brookshire, Bethany. “These Researchers Swallowed Legos for Science.” Science News for
Students, Society for Science and the Public, 8 Feb. 2019, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/what-happens-when-swallow-Legos-science.