Hello Bob Ninja,
If I may jump on the soap box for just a moment...
Children are a very precious resource. As parents, we have a very great responsibility to prepare our children for the realities of the world, while still endeavoring to preserve their innocense. Parents are responsible for education, habits, attitudes, communication, and a wide variety of other things that must be passed on in order for our children to be successful in the world.
I happen to believe in the education provided by natural and logical consequences. As children grow, it is important that they understand that what they decide to do effects the outcome of what happens.
Battery operated devices are a step up from manual devices, but there is a price to pay for this. Exploring this price is an educational process.
Initially, the responsibility is with the parent. You have to decide if the child is ready to explore toys that require maintenance, and your job is to demonstrate the maintenance needed to keep the toy running. What a wonderful learning experience it is to help a child understand that everything runs on power. People eat food to provide the energy needed and toys that need batteries need to have the batteries charged to keep the toys running. If people don't eat regularly, their moods swing up and down and at times they become dysfunctional. The same goes for toys that have batteries over discharged through neglect.
You can even illustrate your points with some shared family experiences. "Remember when mom
forgot to turn the lights off in the car and when we tried to start it the next morning it wouldn't start?" And, "remember that it was just a short while later that we had to replace the battery in the car?" You can then explain that the problem was that the battery was old and the over discharge did it in. You can then go on to explain that the same thing will happen if you forget to turn your battery operated toys off.
If you do a good job of this education, your child will have an awareness of energy usage at a fundamental level. However, be advised that any "quirks" you have will be held under scrutiny... and you may have to deal with your own inconsistencies.
All children are different, and everyone makes mistakes. During the initial learning it is great to use "used" batteries with the understanding that they may be damaged during the learning process. However, I think it is also important to understand quality. If the child is dealing with "crap" cells all of the time, they won't see the difference in performance that quality cells make...
If we teach our children to examine their needs and insist on quality items that fill thos needs, what will this world evolve into... ?
OK, I will jump off the soap box now and put away my "rose colored glasses."
Please understand that this is no way meant to be disrespectful of your, or anyone elses parenting style, but is meant to look beyond the immediate situation. My children are grown, and I am now playing with the grandchildren. I am pleased that the toys last a long time, and the grandchildren are beginning to recognize when the batteries are depleted. Mistakes still happen, but with less frequently. While no one gets bent out of shape over a broken AA battery, we don't treat it totally as a consumable item either.
Rechargeable batteries are making a difference in the amount of garbage in our landfills. However, they do wear out. With proper care and use, they can last a long time and they provide a clear edge under heavy demands, but when they are worn out their characteristics become less predictable. When someone is learning about rechargeable chemistries, I think it is best to try to control as many variables as you can. When the cell wears out, put it in the recycle bin. You can ponder what could have been done to get longer life from it as you break in your new cells.
Tom
