Toy Story

I have a confession; I have little a thing for James May. Yes, the rather nerdy Top Gear presenter. Richard Hammond was a twinkle in the eye. I doubt Clarkson will make it but you never know. James will not replace James McAvoy but he would keep me amused for a while.

Anyway James May presented a TV series called, "James May's Toy Stories" which was frankly marvelous. In this particular episode he wanted to establish if modern children could cope with and get subsequently addicted to toys from yesteryear.

This episode dealt with James's own fascination with Airfix kits. He had completed many a plane as a young lad and wanted children of this generation to share his passion. The premise was simple, as the best things are, get kids to make kits then use these skills to make the ultimate model (to be disclosed later).

Initially the children were scathing and skeptical as it lacked the bells and whistles that so many of their contemporary distractions had. Once they got over the mental issue of this toy being from another century they began to enjoy the challenges each kit threw at them. OK so building model tanks and then making a film and blowing them up really appealed.

The ultimate model was a 1:1 Spitfire with James as the pilot. I shan't ruin it by relating the entire story as it is worth a viewing. What was significant about the Spitfire was it is the best selling Airfix model of all time and the children who were involved in the project lived close to where the Spitfire was manufactured.

The children did not know the social history which was worrying but then to our generation the second world war was eons ago.

We have little concept of sacrifice as made by the many. Wars now are fought at a distance with 24-hour coverage so we can tune in and out as we feel necessary. We are desensitized to the notion of warfare and cannot begin to fathom people fighting and many dying. We just do not see it and feel it. A generation of young men were lost, emotionally scarred, tortured, made heroes then neglected. Nothing has changed then.

The kids began to enjoy the task of building the ultimate model. The used leadership and team skills they did not know they had and they learnt all manner of new skills. The cell phones were absent and here was a group of young people making models as if it were the most natural thing. I was impressed.

I am not saying that all technology should be cast into the flames and replaced with spinning tops but there is certainly a place for older technology in a child's life. The simpler pleasures are what kids ultimately remember. They remember bike rides and the like.

It was so interesting to see this social experiment. I shall experiment with older technology with my tutor group and see what happens.