Lion & Lamb Project

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November 26, 2002

Annual Top Twenty and Dirty Dozen Toys Lists Released

Lion & Lamb Project Presents Fun and Creative
Toy Ideas for a Nonviolent Holiday Season

Washington DC- Journeys through space to the far reaches of the galaxy and travels in a time machine are just tow of the many adventures children's imaginations can create with ALEX Toys' Robot Tabletop Puppet Theater, one of the toys making this year's Top Twenty List of non-violent, recommended toys for this holiday season. The annual Top Twenty and the Dirty Dozen list of harmful, violent toys are being released today by the Lion & Lamb Project, a national grassroots parents' organization working to stop the marketing of violence to children.

As the busiest shopping days of the year approach, parents’ buying decisions should incorporate toys that encourage fun and imaginative play and avoid violence.  The Orb Factory’s giant floor puzzle, Bug Tumble, and Cranium’s uniquely designed board game, Cariboo, are two of the Top Twenty toys that promote such positive entertainment 

Toys on the Dirty Dozen list depict violence and aggression as fun and harmless, often encouraging children to behave destructively. The Army Forward Command Post by Ever Sparkle Industrial Toys is a nightmare version of Barbie’s Dream House…“sure to excite bloodthirsty passions in even the most passive of preschoolers,” according to an Amazon review. Zoids “Gun Sniper,” made by Hasbro is a “posable action figure” of a dinosaur-like creature called Sniper, holding a gun in each hand.

Video games are also included in this year’s Dirty Dozen list for their increasingly violent themes. Pushing the envelope is Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, a Playstation 2 game that is rated for Mature audiences but will be much sought after by children this year.  This game allows players to hijack police cars, gun down pedestrians, kill policemen, and pick up prostitutes in order to get “health points.”

 “The holiday season is a peaceful time of good will toward all,” said Daphne White, Executive Director of The Lion & Lamb Project. “This spirit is in stark contrast with the violent toys that are promoted during the season. We give kids difficult, mixed messages when we tell them that violence is bad but then give them a toy machine gun.”   

 “As a society, we continue to push violent and mature material down to younger and younger children,” says Dr. Susan Villani, a child psychiatrist who authored a research review article in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  “By marketing violent toys and video games to young children, we are beginning an insidious process that only accelerates and becomes more extreme as they grow older,” said Dr. Villani.  “The research continues to support concerns about the effects of violent media on aggressive play,” adds Dr. Villani, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, and Medical Director of School Programs at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

White created The Lion & Lamb Project out of a concern for the growing fascination with violence and its effects on children’s increasingly aggressive behavior.  Lion & Lamb helps parents, industries, and government officials recognize that violence is not child’s play and galvanizes concerned adults to take action.

 

The Lion & Lamb Project


The Lion & Lamb Project is an initiative of the Tides Center.