It's just another fad
May 29 '00
I have sat here at my computer for the past few weeks reading the reviews on the Pokémon Phenomen , and I must say I sit here most the time shaking my head. Most of those that “oppose” Pokémon really don’t know much about them, and draw uneducated conclusions. I have 3 children that are in that Pokémon craze, and I have no problem with it. My 9 year old and my 7 year old both have a Gameboy Color with one of the Pokémon versions, they love this game, and I have to admit I have played it on more than one occasion myself.
Maybe my children are the exception, or maybe it’s how I handle the situations, but we don’t have any problems with Pokémon.
Some of the Pokémon opposition says that the game just takes up too much of their child’s time, it takes place of homework, or outside physical activity. To this I have to say “HUH?” My children have, since the first day of Kindergarten, understood that schoolwork comes first, before anything! When they arrive home from school they grab a snack and WE ALL sit at the dinning room table doing homework. Once they are done with their homework they have a few chores they are expected to do. At that point their time is theirs. Should they not accomplish these tasks the Pokémon Game is the first thing to be taken away. They realize there are consequences for not doing what is expected, and I have yet had to take away the game.
Its now (almost) summer time (it gets hot early in the year in North Carolina *G*) and outside play, while hot, is still the thing to do. We have a small wadding pool and of course the ever poplar sprinkler set up, and on those very hot and humid days the kids (all of them, to including the Pokémon addicted) love to go out and “get physical”. They don’t have a problem putting the game down to go play outside.
The next “bad thing” mentioned quite frequently in the “opposition” reviews is the “gambling factor”. To this I say, again, “HUH?” Yes, my children save up their allowances to go and buy Pokémon paraphernalia (trading cards, “hint” books and the like) but it is their money, this is what they want, and they have chosen to buy it. They have earned the money, why shouldn’t they be able to spend it on things that interest them?
Is the Pokémon trading card game gambling? In my opinion, no more than marbles was when I was growing up. I can remember saving my allowance to go buy that new “Big Daddy” I saw in the store, and as soon as I got home I would go round up a game of marbles. Remember the game? What did the winner receive? Yep, you got it, the loser’s marbles! Hmm, so then I guess playing marbles was gambling. Did I become a “gamble-holic”? No. Still, I take “precautions” with my children. My children understand that NO cards are to be taken or given to their friends. They are aloud to play the trading card game, but at no time does any one child walk away with another’s cards. I don’t know too much about this part of Pokémon, as my children are more into the Gameboy than the cards, but from what I understand the game isn’t even set up so that one child receives the loser’s cards.
Another point the Pokémon opposition speaks out to is the overpricing, and “injuries” or harmful acts of trying to obtain Pokémon cards, games etc. Is this the first “craze” to have this happen? No. Remember “Cabbage Patch Kids”? How about “Tickle me Elmo”? Beanie Babies? Furby’s? “Starter’s Jackets”?
Remember…
The stampedes of customers trying to be the first to “adopt” a Cabbage Patch doll? Fistfights between customers broke out, stores had to hold lotteries to determine eligible purchasers and police were called to help quell near riots. Why? Because children wanted the doll and PARENTS were doing anything they could to get their child one.
Remember…
The outrageous prices that were being charged for a “Tickle me Elmo”? "Tickle Me Elmo" dolls were auctioned. Raffles were held. Classified ads offered the $30 doll for as much as $2,500. In Frederickton, New Brunswick, some 300 Elmo-seeking people lined up outside a Wal-mart store five hours before it opened, then stampeded when the doors were unlocked, trampling an employee so badly he was sent to the hospital. At a Texas Wal-Mart, two employees were fired for hiding the dolls from customers so they could buy them for themselves. Why? Because the children wanted the doll and PARENTS were doing anything they could to get their child one.
Remember…
Just this past Christmas, and the Furby craze? The list price of a Furby was about $30, but finding them at this price was almost hopeless. Furbies were listed in newspaper classifieds and on the Internet at prices up to $800, and with bids and offers at the auction sites ranging from $65 to over $500. Why? Because the children wanted the doll and PARENTS were doing anything they could to get their child one.
Now while I have heard of a few (very few) problems with the kids in any of these “crazes”. You do have the odd bully that is out to get whatever he can from a “weaker” child, but nothing compared to what the parents are doing. Maybe we should look at our actions first? We, the parents, are showing our children it is okay to pay outrageous prices for toys or items we find fun. Take Beanie Babies, I’ve seen some sell for thousands of dollars!
By the above examples we show them it is okay to hurt to get the toys of interest. Should we not first, fix our actions, before trying to fix our childrens? Or is this yet another “Do as I say not as I do” situation.
To those that say the game is too violent and makes children believe fighting is okay, again I say “HUH?” On the gameboy games no Pokémon is ever killed, he faints, and the child must take him to the Pokémon center to be healed. They learn they must take care of the Pokémon, for it to perform, as they want it too. Hmmm much the same as say a race car, you must spend an incredible amount of time with a race car, fine tuning, repairing it, for it to perform the way you want it too.
My children are no more aggressive with each other than they were before Pokémon. They aren’t trying to get into the Casino’s to play Black Jack. And, okay they do spend SOME of their allowance on Pokémon, but, again, this is their choice (they don’t tell me what I should buy with my money, why should I tell them what to purchase?)
Though time there WILL be fads, things kids want to do, there were fads when I was a kid (Rubiks cube, Atari, marbles, Matchbox cars) no those fads didn’t have the same effect as those of today, but fads will always be around. When the purple dinosaur was the ever so popular thing to have, I wanted no part of it, and except for a pair of slippers, and a stuffed animal my parents sent, we had NOTHING with Barney on it. Why? Well my reasons are many, but it was my decision not to allow this item in my house, did I run around claiming he was evil or took too much of my child’s time watching TV? No. I decided I wanted nothing to do with him and I ignored the fad, as best I could. To those that find Pokémon to be the same as I find/found Barney, I suggest you do the same, ignore it, it too will pass. Its just the fad of the day, and I am sure my kids will look back at Pokémon the same way I giggle at the Rubiks Cube! I mean what did I find so fascinating about that dang thing anyway? LOL
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Epinions.com ID:
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Location: Orem, Utah
Reviews written: 54
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