Barry's Bulletin #1

Toys:

A Study in Popular Culture Icons

  1. What are the major trends in toys this year? What do they tell us about popular culture in 200X? List the five hottest toys.
  2. What do you like and dislike about the Toys "R" Us stores?
  3. Account for the popularity of the leading sellers.
  4. Which toys, in your opinion, are the best for kids ? Establish your own criteria to make your decision such as the potential role of a toy in stimulating creativity.
  5. Recently, the Toy Manufacturers of America told the press: ”Technology is influencing every aspect of the toy industry whether it’s the toys themselves, the design or production.” Assess this year’s techno toys. Do you think that electronics make the toys more fun?
  6. As a fun assignment, what toys get your vote as the tackiest? Why?
  7. What generalizations can you make about what today’s toys tell us about the needs and behaviour of children?
  8. What are the tie-ins with media and popular culture e.g. TV shows, popular films etc. e.g. Toy Story 2 or The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
  9. Which toys did you play with as a child which are still being sold? What did you like and/or dislike about them?
  10. How are the toys categorized into boys vs girls? To what extent do you consider this separation to be harmful, sexual stereotyping?
  11. There are numerous articles in magazines and newspapers and on the Net about toys. Consult these to enhance your field trip observations. Write a report or make a video on the role of toys in our culture.

Suggested Print Resources:

Stephen Kline, Out of the Garden: Toys and Children’s Culture in the Age of TV Marketing, Garamond Press, 1993.
Looks at the history and development of children’s play culture and toys from Lego to Barbie Dolls and poses the critical question whether or not children’s play should be defined by marketing strategists.

Gene Dell Vecchio, Creating Ever-Cool: A Marketer's Guide to a Kid's Heart. Pelican Publishing, 1997.
All the techniques for creating brand loyalty in kids by one of the top American ad masters and marketers. This book will change the ways you think about popular culture for kids - their toys and other pop culture passions.

Toys Today: Words from a Toronto Expert

I spoke to Kathleen Macdonnell, children’s fiction writer and author of Kid Culture: Children ∓ Adults ∓ Popular Culture. Toronto, Second Story, a book which takes a positive view of the role of popular culture in the lives of young people. Her new book (Spring 2001) is Honey, We Lost the Kids: Re-thinking Childhood in the Multimedia Age. She presented at the Summit 2000 conference last May in Toronto.

I asked her about the trend this year in techno animals and interactive toys such as “Amazing Babies” in which two dolls interact electronically.

“Today’s young people feel totally comfortable with electronic toys. Parents may have had fears about the role of machines in their own lives, but young people can handle the new technology. Much of the uproar about the arrival of the Teletubbies was from those critics who felt that kids were being turned into mindless automatons. Finally, the line between a toy and something utilitarian is becoming increasingly blurry as kids play with their new Palm Pilots.”

Britney Spears: Fame for How much longer?

Teen pop star Britney Spears has as many detractors as she has hard nose fans. Reporter Sharlene Azam in the Toronto Star, Oct. 17, 2000, poses the question of how long will her fame last. What is especially intriguing is the recent shift in her image. “In a short time, she has gone from looking like a cheerleader to looking very comfortable in next to nothing.” Her concert telecast on December 2 was ample proof.

Here are some discussion starters:

  1. How would you explain her appeal to fans that admire her. How would you explain why so many young people distrust her?
  2. Britney Spears’ strategy for surviving in the pop culture jungle is to move from her child-like image to that of a slut. How would you explain this move and how well do you think it is working?
  3. Madonna has been active since the late 1970’s and has managed to reinvent her self many times. To what extent is this possible for Britney?
  4. The law of stardom suggests that to stay a star, you must recreate yourself every three years. What have other successful stars done to recreate themselves?
  5. Imagine you are an image consultant for several current singers or pop groups. What recommendations would you make to help them successfully reinvent their image and identity.

New Resource

The British Film Institute is a venerable UK institution which has fostered media education for many years through publications, special screenings and regular seminars and institutes. Their most recent document, Moving Images in the Classroom: A Secondary Teachers’ Guide to Film and Television, is an excellent resource for teachers. Using a developmental approach, this short, very pragmatic guide takes a systematic approach to teaching film and television. There are sections dealing with media literacy in different subject areas. In keeping with current evaluation/rubric mania, there are extensive sections on Learning Objectives. The handy, tripartite organizers consist of Learning Objectives, Activities and Outcomes. You can download this document (you will need Acrobat Reader):
www.bfi.org.uk/education/classroom

Media education: Have we sold out to our sponsors?

Arguably the most controversial issue among media educators is the growing commercialism in our schools and even in media education materials and practices. Twelve media educators representing six different countries weighed in on the debate and are featured in the forthcoming winter issue of Telemedium, The Journal of Media Education ed. Barry Duncan (published in Madison, Wisconsin. NTelemedia@aol.com). We will keep you posted about responses from media educators.

Recent Teachable Moments

e-mail: baduncan@interlog.com