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Subscribe to RSSWhat do Coke, trampy dolls, the WWE, rapper T-Pain and an iPad wannabe have in common?
All are in some way associated with toys nominated for the TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) award, which is the annual "worst toy" honor given by the friendly folks at the Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood.
The voting period is over and the CCFC recently announced its winner: The Vinci Touchscreen Mobile Learning Tablet, (dubbed as an "iPad designed for babies") which captured 43 percent of the vote and beat out: the I Am T-Pain Mic (a microphone that makes your kid's voice sound like the mouthy, misogynistic rapper); the Monster High Ghoul Spirit Fearleading Doll 3-Pack; the WWE Colossal Crashdown Arena; and Monopoly - Coca Cola 125th Anniversary Collector's Edition.
While we are pretty sure the T-Pain would cause plenty of listening pain, and that "Fearleading" is a word that should be banished forever, apparently the CCFC was most appalled by the idea that a company would dare suggest that screentime for babies is educational. The organization's press release compared it to a Pavlovian tool for teaching rats:
“While all the choices were horrifying, the Vinci seems the most insidious to me,” said CCFC member Anne M. Deyser of Westborough, Massachusetts. “It’s likely to convince parents that they are doing something positive for their babies when that couldn't be farther from the truth.” Added Peggy Sissel-Phelan, Ed.D., of Little Rock, “People don’t know that without human attention, babies won't develop normally, much less optimally. They will, however, learn how to push the buttons to make the screen react. Rats can do that!”
The New York Times' Motherlode blog questioned the winning choice with K.J. Dellantonia writing:
The people who voted for the Vinci as the year’s worst toy pointed out its insidious implication that screen time is affirmatively good for tiny kids. Point taken — but the Vinci people could counter with the idea that a parent and a child interacting together over a Vinci would be a good thing.
Dellatonia wonders, too, if the fact that the Vinci Genius' name "so reminiscent of Baby Einstein and its overblown promises of learning opportunities" didn't help it garner votes.
Meanwhile, Wired.com's Geek Dad blogger Brad Moon can't get over the Vinci's $479 pricetag.
Sure, VINCI features tempered glass and soft handles and it looks kind of cool, but why bother going down this path? Drop a few bucks on a decent case (and, yes, you can pick up inexpensive third party versions that are just as grippy or protective), hit the Apple Store for a refurb original iPad and you can have your pick of thousands of educational apps, more on-board storage, WiFi (which the VINCI lacks), and longer battery life for less than you’d pay for the VINCI.
What do you think is the worst toy out this year?
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I can see why some parents would trash the Monster High dolls, but I find it absolutely fasincating that they are judging the characters by what they look like. If anyone had ever read the BOOKS that were written about the characters they would know that the stories are in part about trying to fit in, and accepting differences in everyone around you.
I think computer-type toys for children are ridiculous. My kids have a couple of toy laptops that play music when they push buttons, but that's as far as we'll go. (And we only got them those so they'd leave ours, which we use for work and school, alone.) My kids may be great with technology, accessing parts of our phone we didn't know existed, but we like to encourage natural play as much as possible while they're still little. They don't need a tablet to read them stories, they have us to read to them. They don't need to play Angry Birds or other games, they have blocks and plenty of other toys that allow them to interact with us, each other and their imaginations.