Protect Your kids!. Review on Pokemon

Title : Protect your kid from this monster

Review : Pokemon is the current craze. Those with Kids in their house will realise how much sweeping it is.

I am not some 'anti-western' hindutva crusador. I like many many western advantages which we have. And, also many things on western culture - including their indepedent and caring way of bringing children.

Pokemon is in the series of violence prone and escapist type of fantasy cartoon. I think kids have just recovered from the earlier mania called Dragon Ball GT.

This Pokemon is particularly avoidable as it promotes violence and makes the Kid very aggressive and escapist.

The protest to this cartoon is not from me alone. This cartoon has been protested in America itself. In the whole of Middle East - Saudi, Dubai and others - this cartoon was banned three years back, when it was introduced. (In Gulf, they allow all modern things but are very very careful in what values we are teaching Kids. We should learn from them. Gulf, for example, does not allow sale of gun toys!)

The promotional materials are another way of squeering and draining kids. They collect all useless items and are therefore prone for frivolous lifestyle later.

It is very important that we protect kids from such consumerist attitude and teach them real value judgements. The pokemon cards promote gambling. I have personally seen kids - both in India and aborad - who spend their whole leisure time and money searching for balance cards.

The point system of the cards is nothing but gambling. In the middle east, this system was studied and this was declared as gambling and therefore un-islamic. It became an offence to sell these cards.

But, it is a fact that in this irresponsible media of this country, We can't avoid pokemon to the kids unless your want to retire to the forest. Then, How to minimize the impact of this cartoon and still groom the kids into positive and valuable human beings.

Some things you can do...

Protect your children from these type of cartoons.

Resist their buying craze for promotional materials.

Never encourage them or reward them with Pokemon, like saying 'do your homework. you can see it'

If you must, Have the program recorded in a VCR and arrange to see this at a most convenient time.

Be always with him when he /she is watching the cartoon. Explain everything and keep talking about the cartoon. Do not allow a vegetable type of watching for the kids.

Don't allow Pokemon related talk / song. Don't protest directly but indirectly change the topic and tell him / her that this is a better choice.

Buy some good cartoons and keep them in stock. He should be tempted to play those 'approved' cartoons on his free time.

good luck

jayaram

Pros : Good graphics

Cons: Anti-Kids, Violence prone; Promotes Gambling