Entries Tagged 'Toys & Games' ↓

I banned Nickelodeon myself about a month ago. I enjoyed iCarly, but they they started playing less nice shows like Victorious, which seemed to be a bunch of mean girl “you’re not my friend” banter and I got sick of the attitude of Drake and Josh. Mainly, my kid watched them, had an attitude with me that I got very, very sick of. I can’t prove that her attitude was caused by Nickelodeon’s programming, but I don’t have to prove it. I just have to intuit or feel like it’s a problem and that’s good enough – because I’m the mom.

I’ll probably never turn it back on in our house because of the below email from Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood which sites terribly poor judgement about what is good for children and makes it obvious that Nick is a predator who considers my children and my dollars their prey. No F’ing way. The inappropriateness of their Internet gaming is sickening and disturbing in a very gender-oriented way. I shouldn’t even have to boycott a child-oriented company for putting up “peeping Tom” and “keep women out of Congress” and “inflict more pain” websites. They should just have a few moms at the corporate table saying, “Hell NO! Are you out of your demented fucking mind?” It’s too late for them to retrieve one damn cent from my children – this is a permanent lifelong ban for terribly poor judgment and it’s irrevocable. I don’t trust you Nick.

This from the CFCC email, it is quoted:

We’re making a difference. Last week, Nickelodeon removed links to AddictingGames.com from the preschool websites under its NickJr.com umbrella, including Dora the Explorer, Backyardigans, and Wonder Pets.

More than 7,000 of you demanded that Nickelodeon stop promoting its Addicting Games website to children–and there are signs that Nick is finally getting the message.  But we need you to keep the pressure on.  Two Nickelodeon websites for preschoolers–Nick Jr. Boost and Nick Jr. Arcade–continue to link to the website, which includes some highly sexualized and horrifically violent games.  And Nick is actually revving up its promotion of Addicting Games to children.  On Saturday June 19th, Nickelodeon TV will air the Addicting Games Showdown at 10:00 AM–prime kids’ viewing time.

Will you take a moment to thank Nickelodeon for removing the links to Addicting Games from Nick Jr. …and demand that they stop promoting Addicting Games to all children?

Nickelodeon has also removed a couple of the games that CCFC highlighted, like Perry the Sneak, but the site continues to feature games that are inappropriate for children, such as:

• Nancy Balls: “You can try to keep women out of congress, but it’s going to be really difficult.  Take their shoes away and collect guns.  That’s how to be a MAN.”
• Torture Chamber III: “The object of Torture Chamber is to cause as much pain as possible to your victim before he dies.  Doing so awards pain points, and unlocks new forms of punishment.”
• Highway Pursuit: “Robbing the bank was the easy part: now you have to protect the getaway car! Shoot those jerks [cops] who want their money back.”
• You Da Sperm: “What has this woman been eating that there are apparently jellyfish inside her uterus? Take Sammy the Sperm through the inner canals that is woman, and avoid the stingy jellyfish.” (The game’s soundtrack is a moaning woman).

It is clear that Nick knows that children are playing these games; CCFC found advertising for Nickelodeon’s popular pre-teen show iCarly on You Da Sperm and a Scholastic book for pre-teens on Highway Pursuit.  You can find more examples of the egregious games CCFC found last week at Addicting Games–and who is advertising on them–here.

We’re pleased that Nick removed the links from NickJr.com.  That’s a start, but it’s not enough.   CCFC won’t stop our Addicting Games campaign until Nickelodeon stops promoting violent and sexualized games to children.  That’s why Nick needs to hear from you today.  And please share this action alert with friends and family.

Ainsley’s Christmas List this year is simply a list of every commercial she saw inside an hour. No joke.

If your child’s Letter-to-Santa reads like this, download Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhoods’ Holiday Guide.

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has finally agreed to research how companies market PG-13 advertising to preschoolers and elementary-aged children.

The idea being that if your movie is PG-13 then you should not be marketing in Happy Meals, because those are generally purchased by small children. Nor should commercials run during television shows mean for pre-schoolers and elementary-aged children. Nor should they hand out movie paraphernalia in schools to primary kids.

Does this mean they shouldn’t be allowed to advertise?

Does this mean they should not be allowed to make their movie?

Does this mean they shouldn’t be allowed to market products in connection to their film?

Does this infringe on their free speech?

No, idiot.

It means, they should direct advertising and marketing afforts to those people for whom the film is age-appropriate, in this case, 13-year-olds and older.

More information about what the FTC has agreed to consider and how YOU can have a real impact on the FTC’s decisions visit Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood.

I thought gender stereotyping was mostly nurture when I had my daughter. I was right. Until I had a son.

Given equal opportunities and equal access to both gender’s toys and games I have to concede:

Zack likes cars, trains, and balls far more than Ainsley does. He is more likely to build stuff with tinker toys and shoot me with his fingers. He can hear a train whistle 2 miles away and point it out. He will inspect tires on machinery.

However, he is also very likely to play dress up, play with babies and Barbies, enjoy cooking and pretend to be the next American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance contestant.

Ainsley’s far less flexible about gender roles and identity than he is. Though, she is seven and he is three and this may account for his willingness to cross gender lines. (Also the fact that we never say, “pink is for girls, boys don’t wear that, what are you gay?” probably has a lot to do with his freedom of play.) I’d love to preserve it in him and instill it more in her.

Ainsley really is more gifted in language, including arguing and negotiating. Zack tends to pretend I never spoke if I say something he doesn’t like, just like someone else I know.

Ainsley is also the natural and obvious leader if she is ever in a group setting with boys.

In fact, it’s so distinct, her natural role as leader, I wonder if the whole gender gap exists because girls felt compassion for boys and threw the game so boys wouldn’t feel so bad.

What observations about gender can you share from your house?

Look what I found on Julie Pippert’s Blog: Using My Words

My girls are girly girls. They like their dolls, their dresses, their creature comforts. My little one prefers bows in her hair.

But this has never, ever stopped them from reaching out to traditionally “boy” areas of play. One of my favorite photos is of my girls and a couple of friends in princess dress-up costumes paying with Tonka dump trucks outside.

In our backyard, we’re creating a natural habitat. We started with the pond and it has grown from there. We’re planting ecosystem- and fauna-friendly plants, and trying to make sure our backyard helps the plants and animals we share our space with. This gives our children ample opportunity to delve into the world of bugs, tadpoles to frogs, crawfish (yes!), snakes (yes!) and even some cute mammals such as bunnies, not to mention our bird families.

Overall, I’d say our kids are the normal amount of skeptical reluctance to new things, but their natural curiosity leads them to try anyway, which is our general family rule.

So when we got invited to a promotional party at Ridemakerz, I was a little put off by the big focus on boys, even though I understood why it was specifically reaching out to boys. Making a car sounded wicked cool to me, even better than stuffing some bear (although my kids are huge fans of Build-A-Bear).

I RSVP’d my yes, and we went.

Hoo boy.

Read the rest at Julie Pippert’s Blog: Using My Words

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