WHILE TOY MANUFACTURERS LAUNCH THEIR LATEST PRODUCTS AT TOY FAIR

Each year at Toy Fair, the toy industry parades its newest products with the hopes that next year their toy will be found under the most Christmas trees. Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld and Nicole Wise, authors of Hyper-Parenting: Are You Hurting Your Child By Trying Too Hard? (St. Martins Press, February 2000),
are urging parents to be more cautious before lining up to buy the hottest, newest item.
   Says Dr. Rosenfeld, a noted child psychiatrist and Harvard Med School graduate and a former director of the Stanford University Child Psychiatry Training Program: "Let's be realistic about toys. As parents, we love to make our kids happy - and buying a new toy is a sure way to get a smile. Which is great! Good parents enjoy their children's happiness, and that's good for everyone. But many 'hyper-parents' go overboard in our age of rampant consumerism, buying products they don't need in the hope they might make life easier and/or better. Most 'stuff' doesn't. Our children end up with far more toys than we have room to store, not to mention more than they have time to play with!" And, he adds, "That gives children the implicit message that possessions and activities are what life is about."
   Dr. Rosenfeld, an academic advisor to CARU (which sets broadcast standards for advertising toys to children) and Ms. Wise listed some considerations parents should weigh before reaching into their wallets:

· Quantity: How many toys does the child have or need? (Yes, buying another Lego set will make your child happy - but so will 20 minutes of your time on the floor with him, as he builds something imaginative with the ones he already owns!)
· Quality: Is this toy well-made, and worth the money? Or is it a poorly-constructed plaything that will break quickly - and possibly make the child feel guilty about it?
· Utility: Is this really something your child will play with, or just another thing he wants at the moment but will forget about within five minutes of leaving the store?
· Reality: Does the toy or kit represent itself realistically - or is the picture on the box so perfect as to be misleading (as in craft kits), likely to leave a child feeling inadequate and demoralized when their creation ends up inferior?
· Creativity: If this is a "creative" item, is it really about stimulating imagination - or is it more accurately about imitation, a fancy form of connect-the-dots? The most creative activities allow plenty of room for
improvisation and imagination.
· Values: Do you believe this toy is good - or, at the very least, is not harmful? Does it stand for something you believe in, are neutral about, or find distasteful or even abhorrent? If you buy those that run counter to your values, what are you telling your children? Actions speak louder than words.
· Fun: Let's not forget, toys are supposed to be fun! Every moment of a child's life need not be educational or productive. Leave the earnest educational stuff on the shelf.
###