Does your child "collect cards"? What should I do if I am addicted to it?

Note: This article was first published in the seventh edition of Guangming Daily on March 15, 222, with the title "How do I deal with my son's card collection", which was revised when it was published. Now publish the unedited article and make a record.

About two or three years ago, I took my son to the stationery store next to the community. After buying stationery, he asked me to buy him some boxes of cards. At first, I thought cards were playing cards, and told him why he had to buy playing cards at home. He told me that cards are not playing cards, but a popular card among children. So I spent dozens of dollars and bought three or four packs of cards.

when I got home, I asked him to open it for me. After taking a look, I said to him, "Isn't this a cartoon character drawn on a playing card? What's the fun? Moreover, a box of more than a dozen, a dozen dollars, on average, more than one piece each, one piece to buy a cardboard card, is it obviously not worth it? " However, my son's reaction was obviously different from mine. He thought it was very interesting, playing with those cards over and over again, and mumbling something.

Later, he often told me about students' card collection, the proper terms of various card collection, such as Thunder Edition, Nebula Edition, SR, HR and so on. He occasionally buys one or two boxes with his pocket money. Usually, when he talks about cards, I just deal with it, and I don't take it seriously because I'm not interested in it at all. However, on his fifth grade birthday, I asked him what he wanted as a birthday present, but he even wanted a box of cards. He wanted that kind of "black diamond", 991 boxes. It's been two or three years, and I'm still so obsessed. It seems that I have to study the magic of this card.

So, seriously ask my son about the magic of this card and why children are so obsessed with it. As soon as he heard that I cared about what he liked, he was very happy, so he talked like a bamboo tube and spread a lot of knowledge about cards to me in a short time.

It turns out that these cards are mainly anime, such as Altman, Douluo Mainland, Ye Luoli and so on. The types of cards collected by boys and girls are quite different. The price of cards is different, ranging from a dozen pieces of cheap cards to dozens or even hundreds of expensive cards, rising with the rarity of cards. But before opening the box with cards, I don't know what rare cards are in the box, which is similar to the blind box. The materials of the cards are also different. The common ones are hard paper with cartoon characters printed on it, and the advanced ones are laser cards, embossed cards and so on. The contents of the cards are also different, the ordinary ones are single cartoon characters, while the more advanced ones are series of plots.

I asked him how many students were playing in his class, and he said that most of them were involved in it to some extent. Some students enjoy it, not only letting parents buy it, but also buying it with their own pocket money and lucky money. Students should compare to see who has more rare cards, and classmates who have more rare cards will become the envy of everyone. Moreover, students also exchange cards with each other to exchange needed goods. Cards become one of the most important media for children to socialize. If there is no card collection, they may not find the same topic and be excluded from a specific circle.

After my son popularized the relevant knowledge to me, I asked some other children I knew and looked up the information on the Internet. It turns out that children's card collection has become one of the most popular activities among primary school students. However, this has also caused a series of problems, some of which are spent too much money on this, which parents feel very unworthy; Some children are too addicted to it, which affects their studies, and so on, which has caused many family conflicts.

let's talk about the problem of spending a lot of money and feeling that the cost performance is not worth it. According to the network data, some companies that specialize in card licensing have an annual turnover of more than one billion or more, which is still the size of a single company. If the whole country is combined, the output value of the industry must be amazing. And what is the cost of the card itself? According to the person in charge of the card manufacturing enterprise, each card is only a dime on average, and then in the hands of primary school students, each card is at least one yuan on average, and rare cards are sold in sheets, even dozens or even hundreds, which means that the profit is at least ten times, and the highest can reach a hundred times or more.

in this case, it is indeed quite profiteering. This kind of profiteering is even "robbing money" in the eyes of adults. However, primary school students who collect cards don't think so. Some cards are treasures in their eyes. This is similar to adults buying bags or bracelets, and its cost price is far lower than the selling price. It is worthless to people who don't like it, but the people who like it are extremely precious. Different times, there are different ways of playing games, such as taking foreign paintings twenty or thirty years ago, or buying raccoon instant noodles cards, etc., which are essentially no different from the current cards.

of course, there is a limit to everything. If children are addicted to it, it will not only cost a lot of money to buy it, but also affect their studies. What should I do if this happens? I think the most basic principle is to "sparse" rather than "block".

from an adult's point of view, to understand the reasons for children to collect cards, although there will be some psychology of comparing and showing off, it is actually an indispensable medium for social interaction. Through this medium, children can have a sense of belonging. Moreover, once the definition of learning is relaxed, we will find that their card-collecting activities are not without merit. Some cartoons are full of positive energy in content, which can make children feel what is justice, courage, persistence and so on. Collecting cards will play a subtle role in the cultivation of these characters. Mr. Lu Xun said: "Games are children's most legitimate behavior, and toys are children's angels." In a sense, this kind of card, as a toy, is also one of the angels of contemporary children.

in the matter of children's card collection, we should not only see the negative effects, but also learn to make full use of our strength to play its positive role.

For example, let children talk about the plot in cards. In addition to retelling the existing plot in cartoons, they can also create new plots through imagination and write them down, thus practicing both oral expression and written expression. Usually, characters' fighting power values are marked on cards. At first, we can understand the magnitude of fighting power values and compare the winning and losing relationships of individuals. Then we can combine them randomly to see how these combinations are likely to win and lose in terms of fighting power values, which exercises children's perception and calculation ability of numbers. Guide children to draw the characters in cards by hand, or turn two-dimensional pictures into three-dimensional sculptures by clay sculpture, which invisibly cultivates children's practical ability and aesthetic ability. By guiding children to understand the ratio between the cost price and the selling price of cards, this paper discusses whether it is worthwhile to invest in cards, how to manage their own property, how to spend it reasonably, and how to cultivate their financial quotient. Guide them from collecting cards to collecting stamps and coins, which can induce them to strengthen their study of historical geography and other disciplines. In short, if adults can think about it more, then children's card collection can be transformed into wonderful learning resources, because with the help of children's love, learning must be both happy and efficient.

Some children are addicted to it, which is probably not the attraction of cards, but the tension between parents and children in real life, the lack of sense of accomplishment and the inability to find a sense of belonging. At this time, you can't put all the boards on the cards, but you should solve the problem fundamentally.

After I discussed the related issues of cards with my son, I told him that Zi Xia, a disciple of Confucius in The Analects of Confucius, said, "Although there must be a considerable person in the trail, it is a gentleman's fault that he is afraid of mud." Everything may be interesting to study in depth, but for the longer-term goal of life, we must choose something. If there are only two activities to choose from, one is playing cards and the other is reading, which one would you prefer? He told me to choose reading, because reading can be more extensive and deeper, but cards can't. The choice of my son has let my father put down his hanging heart.