Melissa Vejins
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 15/99) - After more than one incident involving theft or fighting, some Yellowknife schools are forbidding students to bring Pokeman cards on school premises. Weledeh Catholic school recently banned the cards.

"Pokeman cards are very expensive and when they go missing, there is cause for investigation...we could no longer spend time and energy doing that," says Joanne McGrath, assistant principal for Weledeh Catholic school.

Not only were cards being stolen, the fervour with which children were wheeling and dealing was highly distracting.

"The younger ones were forgetting to eat their lunch," comments McGrath.

Some children felt conned into trading their cards and this has caused serious disputes that have escalated to physical aggression.

Range Lake North principal Mike Macdonald prevents unfair trading by having any exchanges occur within a given age group.

"We want to encourage the 90 per cent who are using them properly," says Macdonald.

Due to successful application of rules, Range Lake North has not had to resort to the ban.

J.H. Sissons school has had a ban in effect since last spring, and the school now has what assistant principal Betty Vaughan terms, "Pokemania Days."

On those occasions, students are allowed to bring their cards to school and handing them over to the teacher for safekeeping, Vaughan explains.

Then at lunchtime, both she and the principal, Terry Bradley, monitor what Vaughan describes as "high business transactions."

This measure has proven successful as it allows the students to handle their hobby in a responsible manner.

For those not familiar with Pokeman, there are Web sites detailing an array of products ranging in price from less than $4 to $3,000.

"It's just another example of the mass marketing thing," remarks MacDonald.

For some teachers, Pokeman cards have created grounds for a positive literacy experience.

Joni Gelinas is an English language arts teacher at Ecole St-Joseph. She finds value in Pokeman cards by using them as a motivational tool, as they provide incentive to read.

Some teachers also believe Pokeman cards have the potential to teach a thing or two about basic banking and investment, but that all depends on the context in which they are used and what message is being imparted.

According to Ecole St-Joseph principal Claudia Parker, some teachers feel that too much Pokeman is reflected in students' writing.

If the cards are combined with a more profound learning component, then there is opportunity to shift the emphasis away from the superficial marketing ploy Pokeman represents.