On Toys & Children - An Orthodox Analysis by Monk Hilarion

It's Christmas season again! This 1989 article is as timely as ever. Something here for everyone to learn, to go deeper in our knowledge of Christ and ourselves. Thumbnail (see full version on youtube) includes a variety of toys, some great, some terrible, some in between. -On the left: “Snuggly Saint” of St. George from Draw Near Designs: https://www.drawneardesigns.com/play -Life of St. Porphyrios for kids from Potomatis Publishing on the right: https://potamitis.us/collections/english/products/58-paterikon-for-kids-saint-porphyrios-1 -READ the article here from Orthodox Life, Nov-Dec 1989 (#6): https://orthodoxlifemagazines.blogspot.com/ -FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you: https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/ 0:00 Title 0:18 Introduction 1:51 The broader questions related to toys, children, and parents, quote by St. Theophan the Recluse 3:53 St. Diadochos on grace before and after baptism, parents need to nurture the grace in children 5:19 Marketing, television, and the root cause of the current attack on children 7:24 The nexus between toys and television, the often immoral and satanic influence from toy commercial and marketing 8:47 How some toys inhibit the development of a child’s imagination 10:17 Parents must strictly forbid certain toys, impure images inflicting the inner life of the child 11:10 Why are so many toys and cartoons based on occult symbolism? 12:01 A word on films, including E.T., Star Wars, Snow White, and Wizard of Oz 14:50 How we crush sin in our children and nourish the grace of God in them 17:37 The best of western Christian culture can act as a stepping stone in elevating the soul towards the higher, spiritual culture of the Church 18:31 Children must play, advice on the best toys and activities 21:00 Conclusion _______

In many cases there is no problem with the toy itself, the danger lies in the occult and the often violent images connected with it, which are conveyed to the child via television cartoons, and now also movies. The child "knows" how to play with the toy because he knows its abilities and characteristics, as seen on television. He no longer has to use his imagination to bring the toy to life.... At a simply practical level, this spoon-feeding of images inhibits the development of a child's imagination, because under normal circumstances a child would project his own imagination into a toy.

One might be inclined to say that even Snow White and The Wizard of Oz have some frightening elements, but the difference between these and more recent films does not necessarily lie in the content, but rather in the way the story is told. " Disney" films presented a world in which there was a moral order. There was a sweetness in the way the stories were told several levels removed from the vivid realism of Indiana Jones, for instance. In pursuit of ever-larger audiences, film makers have escalated the amount of violence, brutality, arid sensuality, and aimed it at ever younger and younger audiences.

It is also evident that a great influence for good is exercised on children by frequently taking them—from the earliest age—to church, by having them kiss the holy Cross, the Gospel, the icons, and by covering them with veils. Likewise, at home frequently placing the child under the icons, frequently signing him with the sign of the Cross, sprinkling him with holy water, burning incense, making the sign of the Cross over his food, his cradle, and everything connected with him. The blessing of the priest, the bringing into the house of icons from the church, the service of molebens, and in general everything from the Church, in a wondrous way warms and nourishes the life of grace in the child and protects him from attacks by invisible, dark powers ever ready to infect the developing soul. Likewise, the spirit of faith and piety in the parents should be regarded as the most powerful means for the preservation, upbringing, and strengthening of the life of grace in children.