[Paleopsych] Telegraph: Fountain Pens "too risky" For under-14-year-olds"

[Premise Checker]

Fountain pens 'too  risky for under-14s'
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/12/npens12.xml

[Somehow, I am still alive. I'm sure I had fountain pens from grade school, 
since ball point pens were not widespread until later. It was too late for a 
quill, so when I didn't use a pencil, it must have been a fountain pen. Any 
further reminiscences?]

"Fountain pens are too dangerous for children under the age of 14, the British 
Standards Institution says.After decades when young pupils were encouraged to 
master penmanship, the benefits of developing good handwriting are now seen to 
be outweighed by the risk of swallowing the cap.

Waterman has inserted a small slip with its pens which reads:  "This product is 
not intended for use by anyone under the age of 14 years."British Standard 
7272, drafted in 1990 and updated several times, sets out strict guidelines on 
how pens should be made. It says a pen cap should have a small hole to allow a 
child to breathe if he or she swallows it. Pens with no hole are seen as 
unsuitable for under-14s. .... Kevin Jones, the headmaster of St John's College 
School, Cambridge, with 460 pupils aged four to 13, said: "Perhaps I will have 
to employ pen police."