I think I must have been on the edge of the chemistry set rule. One of my uncles bought me one for Christmas, much to the consternation of my slightly overprotective mother, however she let me play with the kit, got me the necessary fuel for the bunsen burner and so on. Didn't blow anything up, had much fun with the magnesium ribbon, all very jolly good fun. That must have been about mid-90s, didn't see many sets after then.

However I do feel sorry for kids who have science lessons without a practical, I had two very excellent chemistry teachers who were very happy to get kids involved in chemistry demonstrations (without incident), and an excellent biology teacher who had nothing but trust with arming a bunch of 15 year olds with scalpels.