Young Children, and toy guns?? what's a parent to do??

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


Unnecessary but sadly true. You have become over sensitized.
I suggest laying off the mainstream media news for a while
For responsible gun ownership check out
The National Rifle Association

It seems to me that, given how common guns are in the area, that you would want to start teaching him about them as early as possible so that when he comes upon one outside the home he will know how to conduct himself. A toy gun is a good way to start the teaching process.

If you really prefer him to not play with guns, and he still wants to play cowboy, get him a hat and a lasso. Ten feet of rope goes a long way with a four year old.

Originally posted by JakiusFogg
reply to post by Kali74

 

is it a feeling of power assertion by an otherwise powerless individual? is is something intrinsic in our DNA that makes us do this.

Is giveing toy guns to boys any worse than given toy dolls / kitchens to girls. A lot of people balk at the though of given a girl a toy kitchen, and call is sexist stereo typing. Maybe it is, but then so are toy guns.

Lets level the playing field and "empower" our little girls and give them all toy vibrators! hows that??? at least you can't kill someone with a vibrator, but like guns, are meant to be handled only by adults. but its OK its just a toy!! (I am being deliberately extreme here)

I believe its education or doctrination, depends on how you look at it but I don't believe its in our DNA only our way of learning is influenced by our DNA

All children should be given access to all toys that are morally acceptable.........So... A no no to Guns and Vibrators!

reply to post by andy06shake


Im not blaming video games im blaming the parents. Would much have preffered you said wake up and look out of the window rather than grow up.

Try reading threads and understand what they say before telling people to grow up. Muppet

Lets keep them away from the Anthrax to! LoL

I would say, let him have it, but try gently, to remind him what happens if you shoot someone with a real gun, without the gory details of course.

Don't be a helicopter parent.

reply to post by andy06shake


to be honest it is that stance that disturbs me.

The world let them play, fun, childhood etc. used with the association that guns and violent games are all a part of this.

Some will say failure on this part will render the child unable to defend themselves as an adult.

I say any person who has to carry a gun as a method of self defense is actually the one unable to defend themselves. but then we get into the argument that it is better to have against those that do, than not. but that is a spiral argument and only perpetuates the situation.

Originally posted by JakiusFogg
From the outset let me state that I grew up as a child with toy guns, I played "Cowboys and Indians", cops and robbers etc. when I was older I joined a military youth organization in the UK, where I was taught how to handle not just guns but real weapons, quickly and efficiently with military precision.

Now I am a a father I am torn by the decision as to whether allow my son to play with toy guns also. My initial reaction is not to allow it.

My reasoning for this, is due to the level of violence going on in the world, not just the on going wars, but the level of street violence. I grew up in a place where gun violence was unheard of, or at least very very rare. Now however we live in a place that is awash with guns, Due to the level of access to these weapons that may arise in the future, I do not wish my son to grow up thinking and believing that these weapons are simply toys.

I was shocked the other day, when copying, as kids do, he is playing with a foam sword. (again I am aware this is a weapon) he come to me and make a cutting motion across mt throat and say "I killed you, I cut your throat!"

I am pretty sure I never said anything like this at the age of four. and I have to wonder just where the hell this is coming from?

I am also aware that acting in an over protective manner is not healthy either. But this situation is getting to the point where I feel I need to start educating him to the realities of these "toys" however I do not want to traumatize him either. It is simply at the stage where guns are cool, and his little friends are playing with them. and I wonder whether to simply let him get on with it. or try an eliminate the influence as much as possible.

When he is older, I will teach him myself to to handle them, for the right reasons, to have respect for them, but as of how, he cannot understand such concepts. or can he??

Would appreciate member thoughts on this matter.

Cheers

JF

I say, let your kids play with toy gun.
I think it over and over and here is my conclusion: These toys are manner, for a young kid, to let go steam by pretending they shoot off every bad guys in the World.
I think that if you try to keep these toy off them, the'll guess that something is wrong. Thy will get curious. Once adults, they might be more inclined to buy a real gun, because they never had the chance to do it as a kid.

I grew up pretending to shoot Klignons. Now, I am as peacefull as you are. I think the toy will be just a phase in which they'll evacuate their anger and passion before it's too late. As adults, they will remember how silly they were with toys gun and will be less interested in buying one.

My personnal experience.
Peace.

reply to post by andy06shake


I think that one is a given, although toy Sarin I hear is all the rage this year

reply to post by dragonsrreal

"Im not blaming video games im blaming the parents. Would much have preffered you said wake up and look out of the window rather than grow up."

Why should i care what you would much have preffered? I dont think you understand my point.

"Try reading threads and understand what they say before telling people to grow up. Muppet"

Well they say it takes one to know one eh? Ile be Kermit the frog and you can be Mrs piggy ya mad Fraggle! Please remember you are the one who has resorted to adolescent name calling(First), maybe its because you played with guns as a child? LoL

reply to post by swan001


A valid point well made. indeed posts like this are the reason I posted here in the first place

Originally posted by swan001


I say, let your kids play with toy gun.
I think it over and over and here is my conclusion: These toys are manner, for a young kid, to let go steam by pretending they shoot off every bad guys in the World.
I think that if you try to keep these toy off them, the'll guess that something is wrong. Thy will get curious. Once adults, they might be more inclined to buy a real gun, because they never had the chance to do it as a kid.

I grew up pretending to shoot Klignons. Now, I am as peacefull as you are. I think the toy will be just a phase in which they'll evacuate their anger and passion before it's too late. As adults, they will remember how silly they were with toys gun and will be less interested in buying one.

My personnal experience.
Peace.

You scare me!

" As adults, they will remember how silly they were with toys gun and will be less interested in buying one"

Maybe they will grow up to think how silly their parents were to buy "toy" guns in the 1st place!


And another thing!

"I think it over and over and here is my conclusion: These toys are manner, for a young kid, to let go steam by pretending they shoot off every bad guys in the World"

If we teach our children that taking another human life is so wrong then they will grow up questioning why it is wrong!

If we teach them it is ok to kill another man they will grow up to not question why it is wrong!

Do you understand where i'm coming from?

reply to post by JakiusFogg

"I think that one is a given, although toy Sarin I hear is all the rage this year"

LoL Always nice to see some humor in threads like this!

reply to post by JakiusFogg


I think it's mostly that it's impossible to shelter them from having seen it either with their friends who's parents are less restrictive with what their children watch or perhaps you yourself reading a news paper or watching TV and didn't realize they were in viewing distance. Not to mention cartoons on cartoon network or a movie such as Transformers. I'm not condemning any of those by the way, just stating it's a monumental task to avoid all of these things.

Also girls play guns as well, but I do think there's a more instinctual appeal of guns to boys same as dolls for girls, neither should be encouraged nor discouraged, in my opinion...but there's no denying that there are gender trends with toys, that occur totally natural.

I personally believe kids should have a wide variety of choices for toys, you can learn a lot about your child's individuality by watching how they play and what they play with. Which is not to say that if your child exclusively plays with toy guns you have a need to worry lol.

reply to post by zerozero00


You pointed the only flaw in my logic, and I am glad you did so.

I can't oppose a coherent argument against your point.
But I think that when kids pretend to shoot with their toy guns, they are not thinking about taking a human life away. They just do it for fun, as we adults fence and wrestle for fun (and fame and money... :@@.
When they get older, they understand crimes. Blood. Gut spilled. These details were not previously included in their little games. That's the key. There is a BIG difference between their little games and the actual real-life killing.

In their eyes, a toy gun is just like a water gun, except you have unlimited ammo (you shoot imaginary bullets, see?). When they grow up, a gun becomes sinister, scary, able to inflict 400 pounds impacts that can fracture body bones. Not comparable to water guns anymore. The difference becomes clearly marked and there is no more links between toys and real guns.

Thanks for your opinion.

Personally, I let my daughter play whatever pretend games she wants as long as it is not something that can cause her actual severe physical harm. I don't buy her toy guns, but she uses her hand to shape a gun, and we play cops/robbers, and zombie hunters. She always dubs me the bad guy and the zombie, though (lol). She knows that head shots are the only way to kill a zombie (she tends to sneak out of her room when I am watching the walking dead). She also plays pretend with her dolls and whatnot, and she plays Mama with me playing the child. Nurturing types of games.

I will always encourage her imagination, and let her explore as many different types of play as she wants to.

At the same time, she sees me handling a real gun, and I use that as an opportunity to teach her that real guns are not toys, that if she sees one she should not touch it, and should immediately get an adult.

I think that it's just important to emphasize the difference between playtime and 'realtime'. I try to reinforce that we don't always behave in real life the way we do when we are playing around.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


I played with real guns when I was a kid and turned out ok.

They used to let me and my brother play cowboys and indians with guns....but we travelled to a lot of poor war-torn places, and I got to see what real guns do. That's pretty much when I stopped wishing for them for bdays...

I was raised in a household with many guns, as we are hunting family. We had 25-30 rifles and pistols in the house at any given time.....not a single "toy" gun in sight. Me and my siblings where raised with the mentality that guns where never to be used a s toys but as tools, dangerous but, still just tools.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


Think of it like alcohol in Europe, the drinking age is non existent or significantly lower than in America. Now take a look at alcoholism in Europe vs. America, it's much higher in America along with young adults perception of binge drinking. If you make something unattainable to your son at this time he will always look to other avenues to achieve the same outcome. You don't want him looking to other avenues!!!

A kid will make a gun out of anything, trust me I was one of them, my mom took anything that resembled a gun away from me. Take my nerf gun I get a water gun, take my water gun I make a stick gun, take my stick gun and I'll use a rubber band...so on an so forth.
If you teach your son the importance of gun safety and how to properly handle any type of fake or real gun, that will carry over to his adult life and he will respect the firearm much more. I thank my Dad for this, he was the polar opposite of my mom and they were divorced when I was 3. He taught me how to be a man, while she taught me to respect life.

Now I own multiple firearms that I use for sporting, hunting, and home defense (hopefully that I will never need). Guns are not horrible things, people are horrible. The reason you are insecure about alowing your son to handle a gun is because you have seen the bad in people and don't want him to desire the same. If you raise your son right, he will respect life and if he ever owns a real firearm he will use it for sport and good vs. the alternative. Good luck with your decision.