Last week a member of the Royal family was criticised because prince George was seen playing with a toy gun.
My feelings on this are: For goodness sake he is a 4 year old child, let children behave like children.
In my experience banning children from playing with guns is not the answer, whether you are a fan of guns or not. Boys will be boys and if a boy wants to play with guns he will find a way. I have witnessed children pick up a stick in the garden and use it as a gun, they will also make pretend guns out of Lego and other construction toys.
I actually think that some video games encourage more violence in our children than toy guns and knives. A recent public poll was carried out as to whether toy guns should be banned, the results were:
NO:68%
YES:32%
With my own sons I didn’t ban them from playing with toy guns, but I didn’t encourage rough behaviour. My eldest son liked to play on the floor with his dad, but once after watching W.W.F.wrestling on the television he tried to body slam his dad, so we decided to stop him from watching it from then on.
A very mild mannered boy that I used to child mind only really presented what I call typical boyish behaviour when he bought 2 light saber (star wars) toys to my house and he started to play fight with another boy, which wasn’t a problem, but I needed to step in after a few minutes to persuade them to calm it down as they were beginning to get a little too aggressive.
Don’t try to stop children from developing their imagination from playing with toy guns and soldiers. A friend’s brother used to play with his Action man while we were playing with our Barbie dolls, should that be banned? I don’t see why.
Please share any experiences you have on this subject.
As always comments/questions are welcome and please share on social media if you think others may like to read this.
Until next time
Karen
x
I did get permission from Julie(their mother)!!
It is such a controversial subject and I can see the pros and cons of both sides. I have daughters who had no interest in dabbling in the toy weaponry aisle and so I have not had to face this myself, that said I don’t see why it should be an issue to allow a child to play with a toy gun. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people right?
Shevy
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#GlobalBlogging
Yes, it is the person behind the gun that kills, but then if they didn’t have access to a gun? Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Kids will make guns out of sticks or fingers. It is in our nature. #familyfunliny
Banning toy guns would fetishise them. C’mon folks, this is way too PC. Kids without toy guns simply turn whatever is at hand into “guns” It’s fantasy. #BigPink
I don’t like images of guns these days for obvious reasons as we see so much carnage caused by guns in the news. Having said that, I know as my mum told me, children will find a way to make a “gun” out of anything. Shame the real guns were invented in the first place perhaps. I hope if we encourage good values and debate with our children, they will never use a gun aggressively toy or otherwise #BigPinkLink
It’s true kids will make guns out of things. Where does that come from?
I don’t mind light savers so much as they more sci fi. I have to say I don’t like guns and I think the royals should be careful to avoid being seen as condoning stuff.
#familyfun
As a parent I’ve never had to face this as none of our girls have ever had the slightest interest. Thinking back to my childhood and I had plenty of toy guns, police sets, plastic handcuffs, cowboy sets. Plastic “click” revolvers and rifles morphed into “cap” guns that made a slight popping sound. I was obsessed with the army and militaria and when I started at air cadets my friends and I both bought pellet guns. We would kit ourselves up, including protective goggles (weren’t we so responsible), and fire these things at each other in an abandoned farm next to my parents house. I then got fed up with it all and never did join the services and have never felt compelled to buy a gun or any sort. I could say “didn’t do me any harm” but it has to be said that this might not always be the case for some people. That’s why I am torn with the idea of banning toy guns, on hand hand it’s just innocent youth and on the other it could be “grooming” the next mass-murderer.
#TriumphantTales
Thank you for sharing your story, David, I totally agree with everything that you have said
I think that toy guys that are too realistic looking should be banned. There have just been too many times when accidents have happened because the police can’t tell the difference. Banning them altogether I think will just make a child more likely to be curious if they ever do come across a real one. I think toy guns can be helpful in teaching children about the dangers of the real thing but they need to be easily identifiable as such. Probably a bigger problem over here in the States, #familyfun
Im all for role play, but i dont agree with guns #TriumphantTales
I know I can’t stop my son from using stick and his hands but I won’t be buying any toy guns for him nor will I encourage people to them for him #TriumphantTales
#thesatsesh dont restrict, discuss and explore everything with safe perimeters and discussing the meaning of new words as they come out through play.
You are right Karen that many, many boys will point fingers or use a stick as a gun if they don’t have a gun. In my classroom I ask them not to point any ‘gun’ at me as I don’t like it and they usually respect that. I also agree that it’s the violent games that children see on their PlayStation or on TV that make them act out. #globalblogging
It all boils down to good parenting and education for me. Banning toy guns isn’t the answer. Where would you draw the line: water pistols, lightsabres, films, computer games, laserquest venues. A person should be able to tell what’s make believe and what is real.
There is no right answer as so much depends on the child, their situation etc. I don’t particularly like guns as toys and wouldn’t buy one as a gift for any child, but I think violent TV and games are more of a problem
I tend to agree with you but there are too many kids being shot by police and others because the toy guns are too real. It is a sad thing. I do agree with you the violent TV and games which are really hurting our society. #ablogginggoodtime
It’s very controversial issue! I don’t believe banning guns is the solution but rather teaching our kids that we shouldn’t be “killing people” with them! My son has watched my husband shoot his B.B. gun at targets, and he knows about hunting. But I wouldn’t allow him to “shoot” someone!
I agree with you 100%. I played with toy guns as a child and they definitely did not make me aggressive. Also, like you say, boys will be boys and there’s no need to unnecessarily tame them down. #PoCoLo
Oh, it is hard to say this, but kids will make a gun out of any old thing, whether they have one or not. The controversy continues. The key is to make them unappealing to adults — or high school agers, who cause a lot of the problems. Ugh! #ablogginggoodtime xo
I’m not convinced they should be banned, that definitely sounds like very drastic action! Thanks so much for sharing with #Blogstravaganza xx
Someone else mentioned banning ones that look too realistic and that makes sense I guess, but how many kids have nerf guns? My son has several and loves them, but they are clearly a toy and nothing like the real thing. We also have several bright coloured water pistols and my daughter especially loves these. But again, they are clearly a toy. I remember my brother having a sherif outfit when we were younger complete with a toy gun in a holster, he loved it at the time but it didn’t lead to an interest in guns when he was older. When I was little I used to love getting my brother’s toy tank and running over all his cars, that didn’t lead to me wanting to do anything similar as an adult. Kids are just being kids and using their imagination. To be honest, anything that gets them playing with actual toys and away from computer games has got to be a good thing.
Thank you for joining the #FamilyFunLinky x
You are spot on, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject x
I think I would be reluctant to give guns, but children would be exposed in other ways – via film, or TV…
https://lizziedailyblog.blogspot.com/
we didn’t have internet and video games when my children were growing up now aged 19, 23 and 26, but I did ban guns, anything that actually looked like a real gun was banned, however that didn’t stop relatives from buying them for my boys, and of course it didn’t stop them using sticks to use as guns either. i just chose not to encourage it. In the same way how you handled your son trying to slam dunk his dad, you stopped him watching the wrestling #keepingitreal
I think nowadays where violence seems so rife, the realistic looking ones should be banned. But as you say, just with fingers or sticks; guns can be made from a Childs imaginations. I guess it falls onto the parents to teach the child that guns are for Childs play only and not for true acts of violence etc.
Thank you for sharing this with us at #TriumphantTales. I hope to see you back next week!
It’s such a tricky one, I’m not a fan of toy guns at all but like you say, boys will find a way whatever you do. It seems to be a thing they are all doing at school no matter their home influence. Thanks for linking up with the #bigpinklink this week.
I have never seen a comprehensive report that says toy guns are responsible for the rise in shootings. Even the reports about violent video games show there is very little appreciable increase in violence. I think much of this violence is a direct result of kids who are seeking infamy. The first shooting proved that a mass shooter will be remembered forever and that is what so many of these kids want. I worry more about antisocial personality traits than I do a well-adjusted child playing with a plastic gun. #GlobalBlogging
I just left a comment but I can’t seem to see it. I’ll summarize by saying that I worry much more over antisocial personality traits than I do toy guns. I think people are so focused on banning toys that we are missing the bigger picture of kids who have traits that need professional help. #GlobalBlogging
Hi Karen, of course banning toy guns isn’t the answer to any crime! That’s a crazy notion. How ever it is up to parents to monitor behaviour, but that’s what parents should be doing anyway. Even if toy guns were banned, there is nothing to stop children from picking up a stick and using it as a gun (as we did when playing cowboys and Indians)… And there is nothing like a water pistol fight on a hot day.
Thank you for linking up with #keepingitreal
xx
My son has never been interested in gun play and yet for some of the boys at school it’s been part of their role playing since they were toddlers or first picked up a stick. In the summer before he started school there were boys playing in the park pretending to shoot each other and he joined in with them in an attempt to connect and be friendly. It was so awkward to watch as they weren’t interested in him and ended up just using him as their person to ‘kill’. He was clearly baffled and was laughing it off but he could feel the tension and wasn’t really sure if he was in danger or not.
When they left and 2 new children arrived he pretended to shoot them and needless to say they scarpered and he was left looking dazed and confused. We talked about it and I read some things on-line (the most helpful of which was this http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/gun-play.html) and agreed that some people like playing gun games but we do not. We would never buy him a toy gun or allow one at home but if he pretends a stick is a weapon as part of his play I’ll manage my response to it. As it is he’s not interested in that at all and walks away from guntoting games at school.
The post you published here is very informative and include full knowledge about the toy guns. Toy guns are toys which imitate real guns, but are designed for children to play with. From hand-carved wooden replicas to factory-produced pop guns and cap guns, toy guns come in all sizes, prices and materials such as wood, metal, plastic or any combination thereof. Many newer toy guns are brightly colored and oddly shaped to prevent them from being mistaken for real firearms.