My son has been watching The Incedibles and also has a thing for The Mask with jim Carrey. He has been pretending to "shoot" people by making those noises-and has now been given a small gun off his big half brother. I wasn't happy about this but should I really be concerned, just let boys be boys? I tried confiscating when he was asleep but the hiding spot was obviously stupid as he found it the next day.
2007-04-06 01:18:26 · 21 answers · asked by jayger04 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
Yeah I swore my boys would never play with toy guns...but they just used different objects as guns!! Lego guns were their favorite. So I finally gave in to water guns and toy guns that don't look real at all. I then told them that if they ever see a gun that looks real to tell an adult cause toy guns are bright and colorful. Well one day some neighborhood kid had a toy gun that did look real and the boys were like freaking out and screaming mom a real one a real one!! So I investigated and found out it was fake and I was so proud of my kids I took them out for ice cream!!
2007-04-06 03:09:52 · answer #1 · answered by got all I need 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've struggled with this for years. I grew up in the country, hunting talk is common & graphic, and guns were in everyone's homes it seems. Child services now would be revolted at the number of real and loaded weapons in the home I grew up in. And why wasn't that a problem so much? Because I was taught clearly that guns are not toys, as were the other kids. However, now I'm a mom, and how to handle? I was staunchly opposed to even water guns for years. I still won't buy, or allow the pseudo-real looking plastic ones in or around my home. I think the critical thing is to save it for when they CAN tell the difference between a toy and not a toy.
All that said, boys will be boys. They will find SOMETHING to play guns with, even if not in front of you. Honest discussion has to be part of whatever answer you decide.
2007-04-06 03:19:51 · answer #2 · answered by Vivienne 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a Mommy of a three and half year son he loves to play cowboys and Indians and all type of shooting games like tin can alley. My Husband hunts so we do have real guns in the house they are in a gun safe with a key and combination lock . But my son has gone shooting with my husband and watched his daddy use guns in a safe matter. We have explain that the way the most TV shows have people use guns is not safe. When he does play guns we remind him in a playing way how to use the gun right and what not to do with a "real" gun. Boys have been playing with guns for use and I think it has not turned anybody in to a killer. So if you teach him how to respect such things now we he is young then if he does every decide to own a real gun then maybe he will remember some of the thing his parents taught him about gun safety.
2007-04-06 02:41:29 · answer #3 · answered by mmlindsay3 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My eldest is facinated by toy guns and rather than not letting him have them, when he does play with them, he is not allowed to point it at anyone or pretend to shoot someone with it. I do have guns in the house (i live on a large rural property) but they are locked away in a gun safe, in a locked shed, but i still dont like running the risk of him getting hold of one and pointing it at someone, so he doesnt even know they are there. If my husband has to shoot some livestock, i take the kids for a drive to stay at my mothers overnight, so the gun is away hours before my kids get home. But toy guns are part of being a boy, so all you can do is instruct him on the right way to play with them.
2007-04-06 03:09:37 · answer #4 · answered by Big red 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
boys can make pretend guns out of everything from their fingers to pop tarts so just explain that it's a toy and that real guns really hurt teach him to never point the toy gun at people animals or cars tell him it's for the imaginary "bad guys" my son is eight and loves his nerf guns he is very well behaved and only shoots them at trees and targets or empty pop cans and plastic one liter bottles it's inevitable that boys play with toy guns when they become school age if they didn't know that toy guns existed they will after their first play date with some other kid so it's okay just teach them the right way to play with it and explain the difference between a real gun and a toy kids are much smarter than people think and if he doesn't follow the rules set out to play with his toy guns than take them until he will listen that's what i did with my son and he knows if he ever were to shoot his sister with a nerf dart he'd never have a toy gun again
2007-04-06 03:21:09 · answer #5 · answered by auntie s 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Speaking as a mother and grandmother of a boy, I think that having a toy gun for your son gives you a good chance to explain about real and make believe, that's what I did with my son and what I'm doing with my grandson, because the improper handling of guns is a problem in our world today, Let the boy have his toys!
2007-04-06 01:27:04 · answer #6 · answered by sdalicea1960 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Explain to him the difference between a toy gun and a real gun. Explain to him that a real gun could hurt someone or himself very badly and if he ever runs across what he thinks might be a real gun tell him not to mess with it.
Its not that much different than giving a kid a toy car. Does it mean they are gonna jump in a real car and take off? If you teach them right from wrong and the dangers of such they wont.
2007-04-06 01:24:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take the gun away use a stick, take the stick away use fingers...yes that is true, but you have to decide how you feel about guns and what you want to teach your children. My children ages 10 and 12 never had guns, not even water guns. I found water back packs that looked like firemen hoses when they were little. When they were older Supper soaker had water blasters that look nothing like a gun. I grew up with guns, I know how to shoot, and my job in the military required me to have one at one point. My family now does not hunt and our job does not require one so i do not need one in my home. I teach my children my convictions on guns. I would find it hard to preach that we do not need a gun and that guns are bad and are only used for hunting and the police, if I then let them have one. You have to decide the message you send to your children and how you want to send it. If you want to let them have them, then go for it. But before you do, decide what message you want to teach your kids and come up with a plan so you can stick to it. Good Luck
2007-04-06 03:13:03 · answer #8 · answered by Tawni B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My daughters like to play superheroes, too, and like to play "guns" after they've been around their male cousins. I had the same concerns you did, but agree with most of the comments here. We have told our daughters to never put the toy guns in people's faces, etc. I remind them often to never, ever take a toy gun to school, and to tell the teacher immediately if someone else has brought one in. I think education is the best approach.
2007-04-06 03:02:26 · answer #9 · answered by Sgt Mama 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I never bought my son toy guns when he was little. I just could not see the sense in the idea to play shoot and kill. I just did not think it was a good thing.
He learned how to ride a 2 wheel bicycle 1 week before his 3rd birthday and roller bladed really well before he was in pre school. He had a whole bunch of hot wheels and we always went to the pool and I tried to do positive things with him and his sister.
I just dont think toy guns are an appropriate toy. Its just a stupid idea to think imitating shooting and killing is a good idea.
2007-04-06 01:31:37 · answer #10 · answered by happydawg 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋