日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
Opinion / Berlin Fang

'Turnkey' toys of no real value

(China Daily) Updated: 2013-01-31 07:25

'Turnkey' toys of no real valueDuring the holidays, I am under pressure from my son to buy him something called a Skylanders Giants Starter Set. I had never heard of such a thing, so I checked online and found that it is an expensive kit that comes with a game and a couple of creatures. It is a "starter kit", which means kids will have to collect additional Skylander figures, each of which costs around $15. Once collected, such figures cannot be taken apart, re-designed or reassembled. Children just collect more and more of them until the trend is replaced by the next big thing. As Spring Festival approaches, I am afraid many other parents face a similar situation.

I asked my son why he wants this Skylander thing so badly. He replied, "Everybody else is getting it." He gave me a list of names, which made me wonder what is wrong with children today. Can't they just collect stamps or something? They just move from Pokemon cards to Angry Birds to Skylanders. The manufacturers create such toys in series so that kids will keep buying them. It is very addictive for children. The manufacturers also set prices deliberately high to give an illusion of value. Children use such prices to manipulate their parents into thinking that they need to buy these products to show their love.

Let's face it. Some people nowadays cannot value anything without a price tag. If it is expensive, it must be good. As Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, points out, outdoor play, valuable as it is, is quickly diminishing because it is free. Nobody promotes something that isn't helping someone make money.

I almost fell victim to this game. A voice in my head kept saying: What is $75 compared to the joy of my children? However, reflecting on the electronic cars and Transformers and Angry Bird toys that used to bring them happiness, I see a pattern of initial merriment in the morning, quickly followed by boredom in the afternoon, and clutter in the house in the evening, and often environmentally unfriendly waste when they were thrown away.

My son is partially right. Price is indeed a factor in my hesitation, but my greater concern is that these manufactured, single-purpose toys do not provide sustainable fun for children. When I was a kid, we played with sticks and rocks and clay and never got tired of them. These are raw materials with no particular purpose, they are called "loose parts" toys, a term coined by British architect and artist Simon Nicholson. Many educators believe that loose parts toys are better able to cultivate creativity. Daycare centers and kindergartens use the safer alternative of Lego and wooden blocks. To make something out of these loose parts toys, children have to exercise their mental muscles.

All quality play, from card and board games, to playing a musical instrument, or in my case writing columns for China Daily, requires effort, and such effort is rewarded by a sense of satisfaction that becomes deeper due to the delayed gratification. "Turnkey" toys are easy to operate, provide instant feedback, and require little thought, and that's exactly what's wrong with them. They have little-to- no nutritional value for a child's mental and psychological well-being.

Buying something expensive for their children may ease parents' guilt about not spending enough time playing with them. In this sense affluence has its own undoing. Others may follow the trend unconsciously as their children manipulate them into believing in the value of such toys, and they do not want to look bad either to their children or other parents.

At the end of the day, we are held accountable for nurturing our children and providing the things they really need. To buy a toy our children want is easy, to fight the currents of commercialization takes greater resolve and courage. It may take a group of us to form a movement to fight such trends. Christmas and the Chinese Lunar New Year follow one another in quick succession, I encourage fellow parents to say no to the drug-like commercial play that is of no benefit to children.

The author is a US-based instructional designer, literary translator and columnist writing on cross-cultural issues.

(China Daily 01/31/2013 page8)

Most Viewed Today's Top News
...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 九九色影院 | 丁香婷婷色综合亚洲小说 | 高清久久久久 | 日韩视频不卡 | 久青草免费在线视频 | 香蕉啪 | 小泽玛利亚一区二区 | 欧美成人性视频播放 | 国产高潮久久精品AV无码 | 欧美日韩在线免费 | 日本色网址 | 色综合亚洲精品激情狠狠 | 一级毛片在线看在线播放 | 日韩精品第一页 | 久久99国产亚洲精品观看 | 草草线在成年免费视频网站 | 加勒比综合 | 五月久久婷婷综合片丁香花 | 中文字幕日韩精品在线 | 午夜大片免费男女爽爽影院久久 | 爱婷婷网站在线观看 | 色婷婷99综合久久久精品 | 亚洲成人国产综合 | 无码日本亚洲一区久久精品 | 欧美精品网站 | 国产vr一区二区在线观看 | 九九久久精品这里久久网 | 欧美日韩一区二区在线视频 | 亚洲综合久久伊人热 | 色丁香色婷婷 | 99热精品在线观看 | 精品久久伊人 | 天天躁日日躁狠狠很躁 | 成人免费在线视频观看 | 日本高清18xxxx | 看黄色毛片 | 爱爱无遮挡 | 精品久久久久久 | 久在线视频 | 黄色小视频在线观看 | www.999abab.com |