Monday 23 January 2012

Toys 'R' Noise

There was a time when toys were modest, unassuming, well-behaved objects that went quietly about their business, amusing or teaching new skills to young minds and hands, with little disturbance to anyone else. Not so any more. Now they are a loud-mouthed lot clamouring for attention, incessantly buzzing or whirring or mechanically speaking, singing, sounding sirens, beating their drum in a bid to outdo each other and create maximum disturbance to those for whom they are not intended. And that is to say nothing of the ‘games’ that are no longer played face to face with other children, but staring at a screen, with all the action and sound effects provided.

Such are the reflections of someone who once again has taken part in two Yuletide festivities on consecutive days, the first on the 24th December, the second one day later, both occasions replete with a plethora of parcels and packages for the young ones (four kids on the first occasion, five on the second), all the Xmas-wrapped battery-charged gifts just waiting for the moment to stand revealed and release their pent-up energies after being piled for days under a rapidly drying evergreen cut down long before its prime.

Oh for the silent playthings of old! And for a strict limit on the number of gadgets and games showered on children who hardly know which to turn to first. And who have no idea how privileged they are.