What do you think about parents who throw childrens toys away because they will not clean or take care of them

Question

I have a family that would rather throw the childs toys away then have to teach them how to pick them up or take care of them. At this time the children have no toys in their rooms. All they have is a tv and a playstation. I am looking for websites with specifics on the importance of toys on child development and the negative effects of throwing the toys away. The children are 6months, 4yrs and 7 yrs. I am deeply disturbed by the fact that these children are very deprived and dont have to be.

Answer 1

The parents are very lazy and don't care about money (it costs $ to buy the toys, it's wasting if you throw them out).

Answer 2

I don't think it's so much an issue of the children being deprived of toys. My kids can make a "toy" out of any household item, and most everyone knows the joke about the kids liking the cardboard box more than the gift. (mine do have plenty of toys though)
The real issue is teaching the kids responsibility and looking after things.
If I had to get rid of toys because of clutter (which I do at times) I would take all the excess good quality ones to a goodwill, salvation army or other place where they would be donated to needy children who have no toys. I would explain to the children that these toys are going to children who will appreciate them, and that we are giving some away because we have too many (note, not a punishment)
It would be better for the children to be taught responsibility. I might temporarily take some things away and put them in an attic or a locked closet, but then give them back as the children improve their habits.
You are right, throwing toys away just encourages more waste, it also teaches children that anything is disposable so you don't need to take care of your things. You break it, you buy a new one. Children don't realize that they are throwing money away when they do this, especially when parents encourage it by throwing things out so quickly.

Answer 3

Well six months is still early enough to teach the kid to clean up...and 4 and7 year olds can be taught. The sad thing is they leave the kids with a tv and playstation that are uneducational and take all of their other toys. These kis are going to need to be responsible and cleaning up after themselves is a basic example of that. And obviously the toys being thrown away are making the kids clean up...AND, don't they feel like theyre wasting an awful lot of money throwing away the toys they buy...i dont have a website, but i would say it's common sense that children need something besides tv to play with so they have some stimulation at home. Most parents ground kids by taking away electronics...this seems sad. i hope you can talk them out of this method. children learn to clean up very easily. 7 yrs old might be a little old for a clean up song, but try doing it together. Do they listen when told to do other things? If not it is the parents fault for not teaching responsibility and respect. they should use other methods of punishment. if they do listen to other things then this shouldnt be hard to teach. like i said, help them clean up...it really doesnt take long to put toys in a toybox or up on a shelf especially when parents help. say "if you clean up now, we will help you." If not, you will have until ____time to clean up. If you do not do it by then ________. and stick to it. hope you can help them!

Answer 4

Well that is a wierd way of handling it. I would take them away temporarily, but I wouldn't throw them away. Obviously they have money to burn. Why would they buy the toys and then throw them away because their children isn't behaving accordingly? Now they shouldn't be taking away the 6 mo old toys because the baby isn't at an age yet to be disciplined at all yet. But at the same time throwing away a toy is not really disciplining. After 3, there's really not a lot of development toys and they're into the tv and playing with other children at that age. But they do need to teach the children to clean up behind themselves especially the older 2, and if they are acting bad then they can take the toys away or put them in time out until they act right, or spank them without beating them.

Answer 5

Clutter is a terrible problem in kids rooms. These days kids have soooo many toys (oh my gosh I sound like a grandma).

At 6 months, 4 and 7 it seems to me it would be better for the kids to have a clean, clutter free bedroom where they can develop good sleep habits rather than trying to battle with them to pick up.

You definitely have to pick your battles and with kids that age you need to keep the messages very clear and easy to understand.

It would be fair to let grandparents, and other potential gift givers that the toys they are sending may be thrown away. It would give them an opportunity to save their money or to give the child something that will be useful in their home.

I would get that TV out of their bedroom. They are way too young for tv and playstation in their room. That should definitely be in the living room where they can have a community experience with their family and learn about sharing and be monitored by their parents.

Finally, unfortunately they are not your kids so there is only so much you can do. You can learn from this and make your own decision about how you want to parent. But as long as the kids are safe there really isn't any stepping in on this one.

Just be a good friend. It sounds like you are concerned and so just let the kids know you love them and would be happy to play games with them when you're visiting.

Answer 6

I think it is a complete waste of money to actually throw the toys away. I would have taken the tv and playstation away first because they do not promote play but unstead kids are just in front of the TV that way. What I have always done is take the toys away and put them up, then the kids have to earn them back, but I am not throwing away the money I have spent on them. If throwing them away is the principle that you cannot have them back, then either donate them to a needy family or organization or sell them in a yard sale or something and make the kids start a savings account for the things that they want to buy. Throwing away toys does not teach responsibility for earning your things or the value of things. Especially with kids that are this young. Throwing the toys away is just plain lazy. The kids at this age still need to be taught how to take care of things all the time, every day! My kids are 6 and 5 and if they do not take care of their things the things are put in time out indefinitely until they can learn to take care of their things.

Answer 7

That is selfish!!! Parents should never ever throw out their kids toys. If it's contaminated, clean it or wash it already. This ain't the 70's where you had to burn bad toys. Things have changed since then. As to the tv, a tv is ok but video games should be saved until the kids is at least 14. When I was growing up we had to go outside and play. You didn't get to play inside unless it was dark out or raining. I'm a 90's kid so we had the best stuff lol last moral generation. Kids today are so spoiled... Millenials pft

Answer 8

you call a TV and a PlayStation being very deprived?????? wow, you need to take a good look around your world if that disturbs you deeply. some children do not have food to eat or adequate clothing much less a TV and PlayStation. alot of children are taught to pick up their toys yet they do not do it when told to or have to be told repeatedly. I would tend to admit that the parents do not have very much control over their kids if they cannot get them to pick up toys but some kids are hard headed and if it takes loosing something because they are not taking care of it then i consider that a very good lesson, besides the parents bought those toys and toys for a 6 month old may be important for child development but after that they are merely toys and not some imperative educational device. You need to take a good look at your priorities. with all the truly disturbing things that go on in this world it seems absurd to waste time being very disturbed over a parent trying to teach a child the valuable lesson of you do not take care of it then you loose it. usually it only takes a toy or 2 but if these kids are that hard headed that as you say they have absolutely no toys then so be it.

Answer 9

I have threatened to throw my girls' toys away (I even took a garbage bag in their room and bag up some of them that I hid until their room was clean). I was trying to teach them to clean. I believe the leason goes something to the effect of "If you can't take care of it, you lose it." I don't think I would ever actually throw their toys away... I paid good money for those lol. My children don't have a tv or game system in their rooms... I think putting those things in their room is just wrong, at their ages they should be actively playing, not sitting still and watching a screen.

Answer 10

I also clean my sons bath toys once a month in dialouted bleach bath!! the ones the squirt i make sure to suckup some of that water and let them sit for abit, then squirt them out after and let them sit in hot water for a few mins, if i cannot get them cleaned and notice they are far beyod being able to clean i throw them away, i say i trow away at least 3-4 bath toys a month!!

Answer 11

I agree with you to an extent. Children have to be taught how to put their toys up just like they have to be taught everything else in life. It sounds like they just don't want to take the time. My child is almost 3 and for the most part can clean his playroom up without me having to tell him where things go. He has his own playroom and his own bed room. He has thousands of toys and when he was just one, Me and my son would clean his room together. Also making cleaning fun was a big part of my teaching process. Sing a song. A couple of times I have thrown toys away because he did not pick them up after several times of me asking him to. Its also a good thing to teach them to clean up because someone might trip and get hurt. Explain those types of things to children. It really helps.