There is one single disturbing trend in these "toy gun" articles that have been popping up since the 90's. It's the meme that gun/war/cops&robbers play is "bad". And that it's treated as an assumption by almost all sides. (Assuming even more than one side is presented.)
The fact that this article points out kids (boys mostly) will fashion guns and swords out of most anything they can find, and that toy weapons are found in the archeological records all the way into pre-history makes this article almost a breath of fresh air in comparison to what's come before…
Frankly, by denying such play, you're only going to make the problem worse. Instead of learning to channel aggressive instincts in constructive ways, such as fighting for good, freedom, or to protect the weak and victimized, you merely send the message to young boys that you consider a core part of their being as "wrong".
Yeppers, Soccer-Mommy, you've just told Jr. you wish he were something other than a stereotypical boy. You can dismiss it as hyperbole, but Monkeyleg's comments on castration aren't too far off the mark, psychologically speaking. By characterizing guns and war-play as "perverse" you are sending the message to your children that you think their masculinity is "perverse" too.
Taking away toy guns and swords from little boys over fears of "violence" is like taking away dolls from little girls over fears of "teen pregnancy"...
As a side issue, I think another one of the underlying assumptions of the idea that war/gun play with boys is "bad", is actually an egalitarian instinct on the part of the liberals and the mainstream mass media. To do otherwise might mean they'd have to acknowledge there is something truly "different" between the feral existence of so many in the inner city, vs. the "Americana" of the suburbs and countryside.
It helps them pretend that there's no difference between a suburban upbringing in a two-parent home, and being raised on welfare in the inner city, when all your siblings have different fathers. That way, the liberal establishment can pretend that Johnny from "Brookfield" has just as much chance of becoming a trigger-happy gang banger as Tyrone from whatever part of town your city's "Martin Luther King Dr." runs through.
Pretending that both have an equal chance winding up as hardened criminals because they played "G.I. Joe" as children is a big part of denying that the "Great Society" the very same liberals helped create isn't to blame for oh so much of the actual problem...
The fact that this article points out kids (boys mostly) will fashion guns and swords out of most anything they can find, and that toy weapons are found in the archeological records all the way into pre-history makes this article almost a breath of fresh air in comparison to what's come before…
Frankly, by denying such play, you're only going to make the problem worse. Instead of learning to channel aggressive instincts in constructive ways, such as fighting for good, freedom, or to protect the weak and victimized, you merely send the message to young boys that you consider a core part of their being as "wrong".
Yeppers, Soccer-Mommy, you've just told Jr. you wish he were something other than a stereotypical boy. You can dismiss it as hyperbole, but Monkeyleg's comments on castration aren't too far off the mark, psychologically speaking. By characterizing guns and war-play as "perverse" you are sending the message to your children that you think their masculinity is "perverse" too.
Taking away toy guns and swords from little boys over fears of "violence" is like taking away dolls from little girls over fears of "teen pregnancy"...
As a side issue, I think another one of the underlying assumptions of the idea that war/gun play with boys is "bad", is actually an egalitarian instinct on the part of the liberals and the mainstream mass media. To do otherwise might mean they'd have to acknowledge there is something truly "different" between the feral existence of so many in the inner city, vs. the "Americana" of the suburbs and countryside.
It helps them pretend that there's no difference between a suburban upbringing in a two-parent home, and being raised on welfare in the inner city, when all your siblings have different fathers. That way, the liberal establishment can pretend that Johnny from "Brookfield" has just as much chance of becoming a trigger-happy gang banger as Tyrone from whatever part of town your city's "Martin Luther King Dr." runs through.
Pretending that both have an equal chance winding up as hardened criminals because they played "G.I. Joe" as children is a big part of denying that the "Great Society" the very same liberals helped create isn't to blame for oh so much of the actual problem...
