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| Dancing Cactus |
Egypt is witnessing a strong demand for the "dancing cactus" game, a doll made of cloth and cotton in the shape of a cactus plant, which records and repeats the words, but a number of warnings have been issued regarding this type of games.
Social networking sites were buzzing with video clips and funny comments on this doll, which dances in a comic manner and repeats words in a humorous manner, and is characterized by its lightness and its ability to entertain.
Promotional campaign
Alaa Adel, Secretary of the Office Equipment Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce , said in statements to Sky News Arabia that "Social Media succeeded in promoting this game, and took advantage of the movements it made, but the cactus doll was present earlier in different forms and with the same capabilities of repetition of speech, There were various forms of it, it might be in the form of "SpongeBob" or "bear" and other forms with the same idea, and I think that there was a promotional campaign that contributed to the wide spread of the game, and that it received good publicity, because it is just a toy made of cloth, cotton and plastic."
He added: "For abroad, there has been no change in the price of the game and the cost of importing and shipping it. Originally, this game arrived in Egypt at a price of 200 pounds, but the difference in price has to do with where it is sold, its level, and who sells it, but the product does not differ much in its quality from one person to another, and it is a made toy. From a group of raw materials, the most important of which are cotton, cloth and plastic.
The problem of the game industry locally
Alaa continues: "This game can be manufactured locally, but many places that produce games in Egypt use poor raw materials, even if they are simple games, on the pretext that the buyer wants the cheap price, which makes the Egyptian manufacturing in this area unable to Competing with the foreign product, which is of higher quality and at a good price, a problem that is more prominent in other products such as bottles, “water bottles that students carry with them in schools,” in which children drink water, cubes, toys, and others.
Alaa Adel, Secretary of the Stationery Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, points out that these industries are subject to strict control, but there are some unlicensed factories that manufacture inferior products and try to hide away from the eyes of censorship, which makes the imported product be higher in quality with no differences in price. .
Regarding the harm of the game, Alaa Adel says: "I do not think that this game is harmful to children, but it may be useful for some children who need proper pronunciation, especially for chanting words in English, and it contains tones in English, and you can download what you need on it."
He concludes by saying: "I advise local companies to use high-quality raw materials, and pay attention to advertising because it constitutes a large part of their ability to sell, so that they are able to compete, especially in such games that are an alternative to mobile and are able to develop children's intelligence in some way."
Serious illness
For her part, Yasmine Matar, who holds a Ph.D. in speech pathology at Damanhour University, said that this doll can cause a serious disease called Echolalia "parrot", a disease that affects the verbal communication of the child and makes him repeat everything he hears, so if I tell him what is your name? The child responds by saying, What is your name? Where this disease causes the child to repeat speech unconsciously.
Matar, who is responsible for early detection of hearing impairment and language problems on the initiative of a decent life at Damanhour University in Beheira Governorate, added: “This disease may affect most children who have not completed their linguistic development, as the child relates to the game, especially as it dances, has visual effects, and issues Voices that imitate human voices in a funny way, so the child feels that she is playing with him by repeating words, and if the child is not fully developed in terms of language, or has a slight mental retardation, he will have a greater risk of developing Echolalia disease, if he uses this game.
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