Be careful when packing your back-to-school bag: many games and toys are not welcome at recess. This year again, the Ministry of National Education, and some rectorates, have published a note for school principals with recommendations on (dangerous) games and toys to monitor or prohibit.
There is no official list of banned toys, of course, and ultimately the decision to ban them is up to the school management, which judges on a case-by-case basis. “In general, at the beginning of the year, we are very strict, with a lot of bans, to be able to manage the start of the school year, and then we relax,” explains Geneviève, school principal at Paris-15. “It is important that students understand that a page is turning with the start of the school year and that toys stay at home.”
Catch ’em all (but not in the schoolbag)
Far from being a nuisance, appearing in the grades of the rectorates is a good indicator of success for toy brands. Thus, Pokémon cards still concentrate the grievances. The new expansion Scarlet and Purple, subtitled Surging Sparks will be available for the All Saints’ Day holidays and should revive, once again, interest in the game. Especially since the cartoon also has an ambitious new chapter, entitled The Horizonsand visible in France on Gulli, from the start of the school year. “Yes, Pokémon cards are a classic for troublemakers at recess…”, sighs the school principal.
Banning cards at recess or not, the next Pokémon revolution will not take place in schoolyards where cell phones are banned. The collectible card game will indeed be exported to mobile phones with the game Pokémon Pocketavailable October 30, 2024.
In middle school, where phones are also banned outright for the start of the 2024 school year, it is the mobile game Brawl Stars that is experiencing a surprising resurgence in hype, more than ten years after its launch.
Fashions (and tops) turn quickly
Aside from the unbeatable Pokémon, toy trend experts are expecting a BeyBlade tidal wave for the 2024 back-to-school season. The famous tops are back, again, with a brand new range, called BeyBlade X, which will invade store shelves. New arenas, with serrated edges, and new tops promise even fiercer “battles”. And as with Pokémon, this release is accompanied by a new season of the cartoon.
These tops are on the blacklist of many schools because of the conflicts, and sometimes minor accidents, that they can cause. “There are several criteria that make products banned in schools,” explains Aurélie Prost, director of the Kid Expo trade show (from October 24 to 27, 2024, at the Paris Montreuil Expo). Conflicts and thefts related to the practice of the game are often at the top of the list of reasons. Pokémon cards and BeyBlade tops have a value. Children rarely play Pokémon but barter. Beyblade, on the other hand, is really a game but which, objectively, is not very suitable for a schoolyard… But these bans will not prevent the game from selling very well.”
The noise of popularity
Indeed, many toys that are banned in class or during recess have been at the top of the sales charts for several years. Take the example of Littlest PetShop toys (cute little animals) or Monster High dolls. Their popularity, born in the 1990s and 2000s and back for a year, has caused them to be ostracized from schools, as parents have testified on various blogs.
“We have a whole category of cute toys that can hinder concentration in class because students like to show them off and compare them,” explains Aurélie Prost. “And then, some make noise…” This is the case with the adorable and exasperating Furblets, a mini version of Furby, imaginary animals with hair and fluorescent fur. He explains dozens of types and these noisy creatures talk to each other using a remote recognition system.
Nostalgia and transmission
“As with Beyblade, there is a return of Furby that is increasing at the start of the school year, which is a special time for children… and parents, analyzes Aurélie Prost. The transmission aspect through toys is even stronger these days when our children have their own interests on a digital level. Buying them toys from our childhood that have been brought up to date is a way of sharing, of creating a connection with your children.”
There is thus a psychological explanation for the phenomenon of the return of old toys to fashion. At the start of the school year, “parents are even more immersed in these Proust madeleines,” explains the expert in toy trends. As a parent, we relive our childhood at the start of the school year. It’s an extra year, the child escapes us a little more, gains autonomy… It’s a slightly distressing letting go.” Slipping a Furby into your child’s schoolbag to tell him you love him? Okay, but the teacher will complain…
Pokémon Heritage
In the reissues section that are set to be a hit, this year will see a return of Fingerlings, small colorful monkeys that can be attached to your finger or pencil. Here again, the 2024 version of this classic toy from the 1990s is… sound-based. Some schools are letting in small toys and fancy school supplies, but there are fewer and fewer of them, favoring uniformity of supplies…
“Each school has its rules,” explains Aurélie Prost. “But toys also teach social rules: like how to behave in class.” For example, the Furblets that we attach to our bags to stand out but that make noise often fall into the Forbidden category. “Toys have a social role,” insists the expert. “With very popular games, children share a common universe, with codes. It’s perhaps too big a word, but Pokémon has developed a universe that is almost part of heritage, or at least pop culture.”
And if card exchanges generate conflicts that teachers are reluctant to manage, they also allow “learning about money, bartering… As a child, I had marbles but I played with them very little. It was like a wallet, the important thing was to have them.”
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