Joshua B. (of Jack-Booted Liberal) let us know about a post at Make about alternative toy warning labels they’d like to see. Dale Dougherty says,
…American kids are raised in an overly cautious manner, out of fear that they might get hurt, and we are limiting their ability to explore a wider range of experience.
The proposed warning labels:
The labels highlight the fact that we worry about some threats to children but not others, and also the way that the potential dangers of toys are often exaggerated (“Studies have shown that these toys…produce uniformly underperforming children who later become credit card abusers.”).
Not that I advocate letting your kid play with a plastic bag. But a giant appliance box with some catalogs to cut pictures out of and glue on as decoration? Best. Toy. Ever.
Also check out our post on the commercialization of childhood.
Comments 10
Jamie — December 11, 2009
The third one even defaulted to "her" instead of "him." Interesting and kinda cool.
apocalyptopia — December 11, 2009
I'm buying printable sticker paper, printing these out and heading to the nearest Wal-Mart as soon as possible.
They kind of remind me of something CrimethInc would put out.
splack — December 11, 2009
We used to make cars and buses out of giant cardboard boxes by cutting out windows and even little doors. I highly recommend it. You can even paint (and crash) them without worrying about the money spent.
Justa — December 12, 2009
My mom had us doing all sorts of DIY-play stuff from an early age. Now I make a good, independent living entirely off of being crafty.
Squoo — December 12, 2009
Best. Toy. Ever.
Have to agree!
Though I have a few memories of toys bought for me that I liked these memories are weak and insubstantial compared to the memory of accompanying my dad to work on a Saturday and seeing the empty box - complete with packing material inside - that a computer had come in. My dad worked in IT and this was the early to mid 1980s, so it was of a serious size; from my child's perspective the thing was as big as a house.
There were toys I craved in those times, as the adverts had taught me - My Little Pony, Care Bears - and those were the things I asked for for Christmas and birthdays, but never did I crave a single one of those manufactured toys as much as I craved to take home that box! I can still see it clear in my mind... ahh, one day, I will own such a box of my very own....
“Alternative toy saftey labels” « The Tiny Ouroboros — December 13, 2009
[...] “Alternative toy saftey labels” From Make by way of Sociological Images: [...]
Hugh — December 15, 2009
I love these, but a couple of people have pointed out to me the phrase "impossibly clean lines" in the third sticker. In what sense are clean lines 'impossible'? Isn't there an assumption here that manufactured goods (particularly plastic ones) are somehow unreal?
I suspect that there's a lot of class bias hidden in this idea -- that cheap plastic toys are 'unreal' whereas wooden toys, being rather more expensive, are wholesome and natural.