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Parenting

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Original poster

Toy guns <head in hands emoticon>

59 replies

FrannyandZooey · 08/09/2006 12:29

Oh god. Where to begin? I am probably just going to light the blue touch paper and retire on this one. But I really, really, really cannot bear them and I don't understand why anyone in their right mind, would ever buy one, ever.

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FillyjonktheFluffy · 08/09/2006 13:19

in steiner schools they actually make swords and use them to teach the kids about chivalry.

I mean, ffs.

southeastastra · 08/09/2006 13:21

not really my sons 'knight' each other with swords.

FillyjonktheFluffy · 08/09/2006 13:24

I'm with alligator, swords are basically for killing.

And chivalry is about killing, and it is about using force to get your own way, even for a so called noble cause.

And kids need aboslutely no encouragement to hit each other with sticks.

I am fed up with this "its wooden and old so its lovely" crap.

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alligator · 08/09/2006 13:35

erm I still have them in my house Fillyjonk. axes and seaxs tho not swords (cant afford them) and guns (way past my period).

singersgirl · 08/09/2006 13:38

And what about foils and epees for fencing? Bows and arrows? Archery? Cannons on the toy castle or pirate ship? Or Peter Pan's dagger in a dressing up kit?

I understand people's antipathy to toy guns, but, rather like ScummyMummy, my attitude to them has changed as my boys have aged (now 8 and 5).

Our house too is a veritable arsenal of light sabres, plastic swords and shields, helmets, and the odd toy gun (most of the guns have been given as presents). And that's not counting the tiny Playmobil guns and cannons etc...

Boys like playing at fighting. They like being heroes, whether it's Robin Hood, a medieval knight, Obi Wan Kenobi or James Bond. They will make props for their games if you don't buy them, but I don't mind a few props any more.

And I really, really don't think that brightly coloured toy plastic guns make my boys think that killing is OK.

whoopsfallenoveragain · 08/09/2006 13:40

I couldn't understand why people would buy them we were at Blackgangchine the other week & there were hundreds of kids running around with cap guns!

Original poster

FrannyandZooey · 08/09/2006 13:40

Swords are not part of the violence that is very much a reality of modern life, though.

I don't like sword play much and as I say, wouldn't buy them. But guns are horrific and evil and here in this world, in this country, right now, being used to kill people.

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Jimjams2 · 08/09/2006 13:42

Swords are closer to knives- which are a bigger problem than guns in the UK.

I don't like sword play just because it seems more likely to end up with someone getting hurt.

beckybrastraps · 08/09/2006 13:44

Yes, and I don't like them either, but does playing with guns affect the children, or just us?

southeastastra · 08/09/2006 13:44

ah my son was playing archery (or a sort) last night, he also loves to play with swords (he is 12). what do i give him instead then?

Jimjams2 · 08/09/2006 13:46

send him to kendo lessons Quite fancy that myself

Jimjams2 · 08/09/2006 13:47

here

coderoo · 08/09/2006 13:48

hey my kids have them but never play with them
visitign GIRLS seem to love em
dont buy them adn they make one out of lego

coderoo · 08/09/2006 13:49

or make em out of sticks
you old hippy f and z
dont htink theirs any link wiht gun croem adn little kids playing wiht them

or kids wiht builder sets becomign brickies en masse

or kis with princess outfits ...well you get nmy drift

alligator · 08/09/2006 13:49

dd has a stuffed axe so noone gets hurt problem solved. dss has been taught to kill his blows and never do head shots. First 2 rules of reenactment fighting.

nailpolish · 08/09/2006 13:50

sorry, had to LOL @ "brickies en masse"

coderoo · 08/09/2006 13:51

yes i htink then youd never do role play

my ds1 dressed upa s mIke fom monsters inc for a eyar - still not an alien

ds2 like s to pose wht an elctic guitar

ds3 is a bumble bee

all of them haev guns- never played wiht
lie in bushes in the garden.
NIECE loves em

southeastastra · 08/09/2006 13:51

it's all his fault

puddle · 08/09/2006 13:52

Don't think it's necessary to buy a gun at all when the woods are full of sticks. My ds's stick shaped like a small revolver is his pride and joy.

coderoo · 08/09/2006 13:53

lol at mallet

f and z you shoudl haev had a gal i htink
itll get worse wiht the boys
theyll msell of wet dog adn play agreesive sport endlessly

pablopatito · 08/09/2006 13:58

When I was about seven I was bought a toy gun and immediately joined the British army. With the help of my older brother, I succesfully protected our house from invading German soldiers that kept coming into our garden.

A while later, with the help of a couple of friends, I also protected our house from invading aliens that landed in the woods at the back of our house.

I didn't turn into a psychotic murderer or anything. When DS gets a bit older I'm hoping he'll protect our new house from Germans and aliens, and anyone else that tries to attack.

coderoo · 08/09/2006 13:59

lol

Blu · 08/09/2006 14:05

DS has a huge number of deadly weapons - swords, pirate daggers, inter-galactic wmd, but he's actually extremely careful in his play with other kids. He is fully aware of the difference between imaginary role-play with a 'real' plastic sword, and really hitting someone with it. It's those developmental understandings that i think are important, and applies equally to other toys. e.g - do your children realise that though they may have a toy iron / cooker etc, it is totally different to playing with the real objects, which will burn them. Yes, of course they do. Does DS play with his selection of magic wands, ding 'magic', and does he understand that 'magic' can';t really happen? yes, he can.

i trust him to have enough separation in his mind not to segue from a plastic sword / dagger / light sabre into a real gun. He will know the difference between 'playing dead' and 'really hurt or dead'.

Blu · 08/09/2006 14:05

lol Pablopatito.

magicfarawaytree · 08/09/2006 14:14

Will parents who dont allow toy guns allow their children to play nintendo and ps2 etc. just curious

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