GO, GO POWER RANGERS MEGAHIT

For years, Pam Johnson teased her mother-in-law about Christmas shopping in July until early-bird shopping netted the coveted Power Rangers MegaZord for Johnson's son, Jack.

The 9-year-old Jackson boy is among legions of Power Ranger fans karate kicking the six teen-age super heroes into a worldwide obsession.

How did a cheesy kid's show become such a megahit? Smart marketing, Johnson says.

Go Go Power Rangers-hunting parents, Johnson included, spent much of the fall for a second year in a row on a mission nearly impossible to find the action figures children wanted for Christmas.

The Power Rangers television show pits good against evil in a fight for the earth. The show has its share of critics, citing violence and defenders, citing multiracial cooperation.

Mega-fan Jack doesn't care about that. With deft fingers, he snaps and flips his new plastic action figures into the Thunder MegaZord, the latest addition to his Power Rangers collection.

The Power Ranger appeal, Jack says, is the combination of superhero action and building-block intricacies. The television show is just fun to watch, he says.

A study released in December found the program has obsessed many young children and made them more violent in school.

Ninety-six percent of the 56 teachers surveyed reported seeing more kicking, fighting and other behavior imitating the Power Rangers.

Are teachers and parents powerless against the Power Rangers? No, insists psychologist Chris Boyatzis, who last year released another study finding children who watched a Power Rangers episode seven times more aggressive than a comparable group who didn't.

While it's difficult to forbid children from watching such popular shows, parents can put children on a Power Rangers diet, limiting the number of episodes they see.

Or parents can watch with kids and raise questions to puncture the fantasy.

That is what Pam Johnson does. "I watched the show first and then with him," she said.

Johnson also talks with her son about the reality of fighting like the Power Rangers.

"We talk about real and make-believe and that people can't really get kicked like that without getting hurt," she said.

However, Jack can't resist a few karate kicks and a mighty Hi-YAH! now and then.

Defenders of the Power Rangers say positive messages in the show have been overlooked in all the criticism of its violence.

They note the cooperation of a multiracial, boy-girl cast of super heroes and point to a moral built into each show -- sometimes on an environmental theme, sometimes even anti-violence -- sort of.

Johnson said, "I don't know how often they get the moral, but it's probably more often than we adults think."

Jack is looking forward to the spring and his birthday. He's hoping a massive family dragnet will find Tor the shuttle Zord.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press.