PokÉmon ­ Is it right for your family?
by Sheri Wallace

Any parent of a kindergarten through middle school-aged child can tell you about Pokémon. It's sweeping through the nation at a feverish pace. The creatures are cute and have innocuous sounding names, but is it really something that you want your child to be involved in? Critics have called for parents to take action and become more involved in what their children are doing. Citing the game's likeness to adult role playing games, Christian groups have warned parents to ban the game from their homes. But many parents fail to see the harm in little furry creatures and a few trading cards. And children everywhere are so enthralled that it is difficult to find a child that doesn't know at least some of the names of the various Pokémon.

All of the schools we interviewed for this article do not allow Pokémon trading cards or games to be brought to school. According to a staff member at Donaldson Marion Elementary School, the trading cards were too disruptive. Students were fighting over the cards and trying to trade during class. They were also worried about the game's similarity to gambling.

At the Armstrong Academy, it only took the first week of school to convince the school administrator that Pokemon and school don't mix well.