If you are one of those parents, how do you justify it? Do you think it's not harmless to teach children that violence is a game?
2007-02-14 12:28:38 · 15 answers · asked by God Fears Me 3 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
I have worked in daycare for years and I now have my own little boys. I don't agree with violent toys like guns and things like that. But boys are boys and somehow it's in their DNA :) My son turned his hand into a gun...even though we don't own a gun, we don't talk about guns or anything like that. Basically I don't agree with it, but I also realize I can't stop my kids from using their imaginations either.
2007-02-14 12:37:52 · answer #1 · answered by aerofrce1 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well now, I think that it all depends on the situation, the reason, the child's maturity level and the purpose. For example, if a parent wantso to buy their 7 year old a BB gun and that child is responsible and knows gun safety and you teach them how to properly use it, to shoot at targets only and never even point a gun at a person not even in play, then yeah, I think that that is just fine. That's what my parents did for my brother and I, and we learned gun safety the right way and it was never an issue. When we turned 12, we were allowed to take a hunter safety course so that we could start hunting and my dad taught us how to clean, disassemble, assemble, load and safely discharge a fire arm. He taught us responsibility when using a firearm and when handling one. When the guns are not in use, they are cleaned, unloaded, trigger locked and locked in a gun safe for wich only my dad had the combination. So as long as the child is responsible with the weapon and is under direct parental supervision at all times (and by that I mean the parent is at their shoulder while they are learning and up until like age 13 to 15, depending on the maturity and responsiblity levels of the kid), the guns are locked up and unloaded when not in use, then yes, I think that it is fine. After all, this is America and we do have the right to bear arms! Good luck on your debate! EDIT: As one person said that a kid was messing around with his dad's gun and shot and killed a friend accidentally - that could have been prevented had the kid been taught how to responsibly handle a gun and been taught to never point a gun at a person, even in play. Not exposing your kids to guns will make it a big mystery to them and when and if they ever do try to handle them, they won't know how to handle a gun responsibly and safely and what you should and should not do. Around kids, they should also have kept the guns locked in a gun safe as well, the only way that a gun should be left out in a house with kids is if the gun is unloaded and the ammo is kept in a place the kid doesn't know about or locked up. As Larry The Cable Guy once put it (and he's a man from my home state, Nebraska, as well): "If guns kill people, then I can blame misspelled words on my pencil". A gun is only going to kill a person if it is intentionally pointed at someone to shoot them or in play or if the weapon is handled improperly or irresponsibly. Education can prevent all of the above. If you know how to handle a weapon and are responsible with it, then there won't be a problem. Education is everything.
2016-05-24 00:17:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah I let both my kids have them. When my son is older we'll buy him real ones too.(For our daughter too actually) He knows that guns and knives can kill or maim people because he's been taught that. He's also been taught that it is not only a right to bear arms in the US it is a responsibilty to. My husband uses guns and knives as part of his job (army) and we go shooting together as a family. It's not a game to us...it's just part of daily life. Just because a child plays with a toy gun doesn't mean they'll go out and shoot someone on the street corner..but they might need to know how to do it if there's an intruder in their house. Sorry but throwing a doll at someone just doesn't have the same impact.
2007-02-14 14:15:32 · answer #3 · answered by . 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Give me a break.
Guns and knives are tools. An inanimate object cannot be evil in and of itself. There are plenty of people out there who had toy guns as kids and didn't end up as serial killers. Blaming violence on the existence of guns, toy or real, is just another ploy of lazy parents who are too complacent to teach their children how to conduct themselves.
2007-02-14 14:07:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is nothing wrong with playing with toy guns and grenades and knives. I .it when I was a kid, my dad did it when he was a kid, and my grandfather played with toy guns when he was a kid. I played with little green toy army men like the ones in Toy Story also.
Playing with props expands kids imagination. It gives them a physical outlet.
Nobody I know of that played with guns as a kid grew up and became a serial killer. I watched the Three Stooges, Tom and Jerry, Die Hard, etc.... and I never cracked.
It's the kids that don't have any exposure to reality that I worry about. The ones who never get to watch the news because their parents shield them from it. The ones that don't know realize that there are bad people in the world. When these kids grow up and are suddenly exposed to a world where guns exist and bad people walk the streets...they can't handle it...aren't well adjusted...and crack.
2007-02-14 13:14:38 · answer #5 · answered by BAM 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
My kids have water guns and they have a doctors kit with a knifes. I had the same kind of stuff growing up. I was SMART enough to know the difference between imagination and reality.
My son is 3 1/2 and he has NEVER tried to perform a real surgery on anyone. I think I am a great parent!
2007-02-15 01:52:48 · answer #6 · answered by TRUE PATRIOT 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hunting is a big sport where I am from and learning to shoot a gun is just a part of life. But however we teach our children gun safety. Both my boys got their first BB gun at five (a rifle not a handgun - no reason to ever have a handgun but to shoot someone) for Christmas. The toys just were stepping stones in teaching them to hunt. Boys will be boys.
2007-02-14 13:09:47 · answer #7 · answered by Angel D 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When will women realize you are not supposed to feminise boys!!
Its a male thing
God made men men!!
my brothers & son & nephews etc etc etc etc all played with guns & tarzan knives growing up & none turned out violent!!!
Its the BAD PARENTING THAT TURNS THEM OUT VIOLENT
sticking them in day care & not mothering them 24/7 letting others rare them & plain just not being a good Mum or Dad
don't blame toys
Boys have always been the hunter & protector
do you want weak feeble little girls looking after you or real men?
2007-02-14 13:25:33 · answer #8 · answered by ausblue 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
why, do you have your own insecurity that you cant teach your child right from wrong. children will run around making car noises and pretend to do burn outs and pretend to crash. does this mean they will grow up to be a menace on our road and possible killers. do you have a television set, does your child have other children to play with, do you have cutlery,will you teach your child to eat with a knife and fork, both potential killers, or do we wrap children up in bubble wrap. go out into the garden, if you have one, have a look about and you may see a rock or a fallen branch, preferred weapon of the cave man. if you buy your child a toy truck will he grow up to be a truckie. i don't condone violence, but please remember that guns don't kill people, people do and you can buy bulk bubble wrap on ebay
2007-02-14 13:15:43 · answer #9 · answered by jeff f 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am "one of those parents".........I justify it by we live way out in the country and we (my husband and I) use guns/knifes on a regular basis due to wild animals coming a little to close to the house and we want our children (all 4 girls) to know how to protect themselves
2007-02-14 12:50:05 · answer #10 · answered by laura468 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋