Posted on: Thursday, December 18, 2003
COMMENTARY
Toys fail to offer sound financial lessons
By Melissa Preddy
The Detroit News
Shop and eat. Then shop some more.
That's what we aspire to for our kids, if a spin around the toy aisles is any indication. I went scouting last month for holiday gift ideas and couldn't get over the vapid pastimes and lame money messages that popular toys are modeling for children.
It's interesting to ponder that many families, plagued by obesity, credit card debt or both, will nevertheless plop down their money this season for the likes of Let's Grocery Shop! Barbie, Toy Store Barbie, Sweet Shoppin' Barbie, Shop & Style Fashion Barbie, Chic Shoe Store Barbie, Beauty Parlor Barbie, Afternoon Snack Barbie and Donut Shop Barbie.
For the career-minded, apparently, there also are play sets featuring McDonald's and Pizza Hut counters. I forget what they are called — "Do you want fries with that?" Barbie, perhaps?
While there was an obligatory Baby Doctor set, I didn't happen to notice anything that attempts to highlight money-savvy vocational choices like Financial Planner Barbie, Accountant Barbie, CEO Barbie or any other profession that involves preserving cash instead of spending it. And no one in doll-land apparently counts calories, either.
I'm not picking only on Barbie and her ilk. Even worse are the toys that try to set themselves apart by purporting to promote financial literacy. Consider the Summit Financial Products combination savings bank and vending machine, for $24.99. A miniature version of a commercial vending machine, it even includes six play soda pop cans! Hello? How do they reconcile the purchase of junk food with teaching the savings ethic?
Similar "educational" toys offer ATM cards (but no "Sorry, you're overdrawn" graphics), toy cash registers, credit card readers and so on. Again, they glorify spending rather than saving.
For the younger set, Fisher Price offers the Sweet Streets fictional village — including candy shop, dance studio, pet store, equine stable and hotel. No credit bureau or bank, but at least Sweet Streets has a school.
Plenty of videos for kiddies offer lessons on being a good sport, sharing, stranger danger and having good table manners — but I didn't see a single one (unless you count "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo") that alluded to money concepts or even how to tell one coin from another. Play purses feature contents like jewelry, fake lipstick and cell phones but no calculator or budget notebook.
I know, I know. Toys are supposed to be "fun" and what child in her right mind wants to play with Tax Adviser Barbie when Cruise Ship Barbie beckons?
But carrying unrealistic attitudes about money into adulthood will have far-reaching effects on her health, relationships, self-esteem, residential and educational choices. Poor financial skills can even affect employment prospects, as more and more prospective bosses are running applicants' credit reports.
Sure, going berserk in a shoe store can be fun. But if kids are old enough to shop for entertainment, they are old enough to start learning that buying and spending have consequences. What would be the harm of incorporating prudent money values into some of these popular playthings?
Maybe if more little girls could choose to play with glamorous Bargain Hunter Barbie they could escape the lure of five-digit credit card debt a decade later.
