Toys, Games and Media [Paperback]

Jeffrey Goldstein (Editor), David Buckingham (Editor), Gilles Brougere (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0805858296 | ISBN-13: 978-0805858297 | Edition: 1

This book is a state-of-the-art look at where toys have come from and where they are likely to go in the years ahead. The focus is on the interplay between traditional toys and play, and toys and play that are mediated by or combined with digital technology. As well as covering the technical aspects of computer mediated play activities, the authors consider how technologically enhanced toys are currently used in traditional play and how they are woven into childrens' lives. The authors contrast their findings about technologically enhanced toys with knowledge of traditional toys and play. They link their studies of toys to goals in education and to entertainment and information transfer. This book will appeal to students, researchers, teachers, child care workers and more broadly the entertainment 'industry'. It may be appropriate for courses that deal with the specialized subject of toys and games but many courses in Media studies, Education and Teacher Training, and Child Development will inevitably have a component to cover this topic. There is considerable scope for the growth of interest in computer games used by children as these games become more readily available and less expensive.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book provides an impressive overview of the toy culture, and the influence of technology on play." "Highly Recommended." --Choice

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1 edition (July 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805858296
• ISBN-13: 978-0805858297
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,227,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting case studies, June 30, 2011

By 

Bremah - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toys, Games, and Media (Hardcover)

This book, broken up into the three categories of toys, games, and media, provides statistics and data analysis for media exposure and its effect on children and young adults. The first part discusses the toy culture in America, from the introduction of toy theater in the early to mid-1800s, all the way to popular culture toys related to things like Harry Potter and Pokémon. A large section of this part discusses the use of war toys and how the perception of "war toys" has changed in the past twenty-five years. For example, toy rifles, an example of "war toys" in the 1980s, have become almost obsolete for a child's toy. Children now prefer video games that depict death and war to tangible toys. This rise in interest for "cool" graphics has lead to an increase in what the authors call "joy killing." Children who expressed an interest in war toys for "joy killing" has risen from 3% to 9% since 1985 (pg 31). This section contained information about male and female child toy preferences, the rise of "cute" toys in Japan and around the world, and the media's influence on popular culture child imaginary games. In fact, the studies have shown an increase in comments regarding the Iraq Invasion in play time (or at recess) and blame media influence and coverage of such events.
Part two of this book discusses children and digital media. It mostly discusses children and young adult's connection to the internet as a form of entertainment, as opposed to their parents, who view the internet as a source of information. This section focused largely on instant messaging and its effect on popular culture. Brian Sutton-Smith asserts, "Youth engaged in it [instant messaging] have established an autonomous culture of play, in which special languages and forms of expression, elaborate protocols of turn-taking, initiation and termination, dares, pranks, and masquerading under assumed identities are regular features (pg 101)." Essentially, teens feel more comfortable saying things online than they do in person, which has lead to an overexposed youth. Another interesting section of this part of the text discussed students' use of the internet for research and formally gathering information. According to this study, students use the internet to gather superficial information on a topic (a research topic for school) and do not use that information to expand upon what they've found (pg 116). This section continues to suggest that schools once thought (and some still do) that computers would be a good way to engage learners, especially those who haven't had much computer experience at home. However, much of the research is finding that computers aren't used in engaging ways, and therefore aren't helping students succeed in school.
The final section of this book presented ideas on how technology influences play. Overall, many of the studies discovered that technological toys were always preferred over non-technological toys, even though many of the ways these toys were played with were often the same. For example, many children are attracted to talking board games and dolls, but after playing for a few minutes, many children use the talking "Barbies" for the same purpose and tend to disregard the fact that these dolls talk.
This extremely interesting book opened my eyes to the amount of media overexposure all over the world and its effect on young children and teenagers. As educators, we're always told that we need to embrace technology, but this book serves as a reminder of why the importance of integrating technology into the classroom remains a focus for so many educators.
Primarily, this book serves to foster new discussions on how to ensure that students are using the internet wisely. For example, as many students don't use the internet to gather information, we must generate a cultural shift in which students find the computer not only entertaining and engaging, but also useful in discovering legitimate primary sources.
Secondly, while much of the research in this book suggests that we are inundated with media information, we must also teach students about legitimacy of sources and how to distinguish from the propaganda and bias that their lives are flooded with.

5.0 out of 5 stars toys, games and media, July 29, 2009

By 

Renzo Laporta "renzotoys" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toys, Games, and Media (Hardcover)

This book is a meanstream line for all those people interested in the evolution of children's costums and habits about their current use of toys, games and new media. The book allows yu to have a larger view on the complex problem of the changing of today's play culture.
I am a ty-maker and teacher and I suggest this book to all people working with children and families.