It's a Mad, Mad Poké-Monde

The Pokémon craze has become so popular among kids that the monsters have been banned in some school districts. The reason: Over-eager Pokémon traders have actually been involved in fights at school with other hyped-up children looking to expand their collections.

Just this week, some southern New Hampshire elementary schools banned the toys. Citing the general disruption the trading has caused, some school officials have decided to keep them off school grounds altogether.

"It's nothing about the cards. It's trying to manage the trading of them and trying to resolve the conflicts that arise (from them)," said Mary Flynn, assistant principal of the E.G. Sherburne School in Pelham, N.H.

Susan Walters, principal of South Range Elementary School in Derry, N.H., last week banned the cards from buses after hearing complaints kids were jumping out of their seats to make trades. She banned Pokémon from the school last year.

Child psychologist Dr. Richard Butterworth, Ph.D., believes some schools are becoming "flea markets" for kids. He sees a difference between Pokémon card trading and, for example, the trading of baseball cards.

"There's strategy involved. It's not just reading the back of the card and saying he's a good hitter," Butterworth explained. He advised adults to preach moderation among their Pokémon traders, a job best left to parents.

Some adults believe that is not enough, and want the matter settled in court. A lawsuit filed in California last week alleged the trading card game is a form of illegal gambling.

AP/Wide World 'Pokémon Patrol' Volkswagen Beetles park outside Nintendo's North American distribution center in North Bend, Wash., last year

Others, like Fox News Analyst Susan Estrich, dismissed the idea of the suit. "You can't supervise your own child. You're not willing to take responsibility for your own child — so what do you do? You file a lawsuit against Nintendo."

A handful of parents watching their kids trade Pokémon cards in Manhattan's Riverside Park backed that view.

Cheryl, a television producer and mother of three, said there are valuable lessons to the trading. But sometimes that message gets mixed, she noted.

"There was one little boy who made a bad trade, and basically his parents told him a trade's a trade," Cheryl explained. Then the other little boy's parents felt bad about the exchange and made their son return the card, effectively teaching both boys very conflicting lesson about business deals.

As billions of dollars are spent on Game Boys, trading cards, and the myriad other Pokémon products, many wonder how long the craze can survive. Some have already taken to auction Web sites like E-Bay to cash in on their investments and cash out on Pokémon.

As for the TV show, Stringfellow, associate producer for Dorado Entertainment, doesn't see it lasting for generations.

"It's not going to be an evergreen product like Winnie the Pooh, like Peanuts. These are characters and programs — no matter what season it is, no matter five years ago, or five into the future, you know that that character is going to be around."

The hype also begs the question of a potential Pokémon backlash, which could leave parents and kids with hundreds of passé playing cards, silent Nintendo Game Boys, and a different children's show lighting up the television. There are already several anti-Pokémon Web sites. There's also the possibility that the movie will disappoint, and help deflate the Pokémon craze.

But no one's betting on that just yet. Grossfeld promises: "I am very confident to tell you that this movie isn't going to bomb."

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