Parents rush to smarten kids with cool school stuff

If you’d like to know which teeny bopper icon or cartoon character is the most popular among kids today, just ask the salesman at your neighbourhood stationery store.

As children gear up for yet another academic year of boring classes and endless homework, the thought of acquiring school products endorsed by their favourite role models promise glimmers of joy.

Apart from being functional, school products today have become a decisive way in which children, right from ages of 5 to 13, are asserting a sense of who they are as individuals. 

“I wanted one of Hannah Montana playing a guitar because I want to be a singer like her. I’m even starting guitar classes next month,” quips 11-year-old Mansi Shroff as she shows off her brand new Hannah Montana compass box.

And, because children these days mature at an unbelievable rate, most of their fondly cherished merchandise becomes ‘kiddish’ in merely a year’s time. Mansi’s mother Priyal braces herself for what has become an annual school shopping spree with her daughter.

“Back in my day, a school bag would last us at least two years before it was too ragged to take to school anymore. Mansi would have a panic attack if she was asked to use the same school stuff we bought her last year.

Also, I’m not allowed to buy anything without her consent. She handpicks her own water bottle, compass box and other stationery, right down to her erasers and pencil sharpeners.”

And, don’t even think of saving a few bucks in the process because most kids today, reared on ample amounts of satellite TV, are discerning consumers.

It’s not coincidence that every children’s TV channel, from Cartoon Network to Disney to Pogo, has come out with its own line of merchandise.

Yutika Jhaveri recounts the time she tried to con her six-year-old niece with a water bottle she’d bought off the street at Colaba Market.

“It didn’t take her long to realise that I’d gifted her a local, ripped off version of the Powerpuff Girls water bottle. She looked it over once, most likely looking for the Cartoon network brand and then tossed it aside, deciding it no longer deserved her attention,” she laughs.

While parents and family members try their best to wean their children off this obsessive trend, stores across the city are only too willing to satisfy children’s relentless demand for their favourite TV characters plastered on every imaginable surface.

Hypercity at Malad has stayed ahead of the pack, launching the ‘Back to School’ collection which features an exhaustive range of school merchandise. Rajiv Nair, head of buying and merchandising, says, “Children’s pester-power does make parents switch preference to character merchandise. Even the influx of Chinese imports have a role to play, where colourful staplers, erasers, pencils with colourful tops, etc have flooded the markets.”

Premson’s on Abdul Rehman Street, Crawford Market, has been synonymous with school shopping for decades. Describing their busiest school shopping time from mid-May to June 15, manager Bharat Sodha says, “The most popular item among girls is without doubt Hannah Montana, while boys go crazy over Ben 10.”

Streetside vendors at Crawford market sell unlicensed products with the same characters at cheaper prices, with a Hannah Montana compass box going for as low as Rs75.