Do you honestly think that kids need a molded plastic or stamped metal toy gun to “play with guns”? Have you never seen kids pick up a “Y” shaped stick off the ground and say “bang bang!” or “zap zap!” pretending its a gun (or laser gun)?
I.M.O. an important aspect of play is its self-directed. If they prefer that, absolutely, but I would rather let them choose and try to provide safe ways for them to explore. If they choose gardening that would be wonderful, if they choose to play with nerf guns or airsoft guns we should try and provide safety and caution to insulate them from being injured, but otherwise let them play
To be honest I’m not convinced this is an issue. I admit whole heartedly that my own personally experience is not data, but anecdotally I grew up playing with lots of guns and playing violent make believe, hell I even played GTA3 at a definitely not appropriate age, but I grew up to be a pacifist.
Personally I’d rather they banned the real ones and left the toys
Fair enough, good point.
That’s still not gonna get rid of all the guns already out in the wild though.
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Neither option is gonna fix the problem. Guns, both real and toy, are already out there en masse.
Figure out a solution to that issue, then come talk to me. In the meantime, people wanna defend themselves.
Disclaimer: I’m not an advocate for guns. I never have been. Just saying, guns exist already, both real and toy.
Nature is healing!
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Do you honestly think that kids need a molded plastic or stamped metal toy gun to “play with guns”? Have you never seen kids pick up a “Y” shaped stick off the ground and say “bang bang!” or “zap zap!” pretending its a gun (or laser gun)?
I.M.O. an important aspect of play is its self-directed. If they prefer that, absolutely, but I would rather let them choose and try to provide safe ways for them to explore. If they choose gardening that would be wonderful, if they choose to play with nerf guns or airsoft guns we should try and provide safety and caution to insulate them from being injured, but otherwise let them play
To be honest I’m not convinced this is an issue. I admit whole heartedly that my own personally experience is not data, but anecdotally I grew up playing with lots of guns and playing violent make believe, hell I even played GTA3 at a definitely not appropriate age, but I grew up to be a pacifist.
That sounds like slavery with extra steps.
So work instead of play?