A HEADTEACHER has banned the latest playground craze -- because it was undermining discipline at her orderly primary school.

Markland Hill head Pat Beddows says the craze for Pokemon cards was causing playground squabbles and problems in the classroom.

Appalled

Mrs Beddows called pupils into a special assembly and told them she was "appalled" at the way the card collecting craze had altered their behaviour over a matter of weeks.

And she warned the stunned pupils from one of Bolton's most affluent areas that she would bin any cards found in school because confiscating them had not worked.

Staff of other schools are also known to be worried about the effect the craze is having on children.

Pokemon began life in Japan as a kind of hand-held Nintendo game, but without the electronics. It has developed into a card-swapping game which many say has turned playgrounds into mini wheeler-dealer sites with all the cut-throat atmosphere of a stock exchange.

Mrs Beddows' warning echoes those of headteachers elsewhere in the country who have also banned the cards described by US police as "America's most dangerous hobby".

But Mrs Beddows is believed to the first in Bolton to ban the Pokemon swapping craze which has been blamed elsewhere for playground bullying and assault by children desperate to get their hands on rare cards.

She said: "It was very subtle but standards of behaviour and discipline were slipping. I noticed increasing incidents of arguing and fighting in the playground and the children were cheeking the dinner ladies.

"The cards were distracting children from their lessons and teachers found they were being questioned when they tried to stop it.

"We have very nice, well behaved children at this school but the arguing and fighting had to be checked all the time and it was becoming a bit of a battle."

Dangerous

Mrs Beddows has always banned toys to avoid quarrels but believes the Pokemon craze is particularly dangerous because left unchecked, it could tempt children to steal from each other.

She blames manufacturers who she believes deliberately encourage children to pester parents knowing full well they will not want to see their child left out at playtime.

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