Parenting Forums

Posted: 03 June 2008 at 10:54am | IP Logged

Do you or would you allow you child to play with toy guns and swords?

When we were young, my brothers always had these and was forever chasing us he grew up to be normal and non violent.

Harrison has two toy guns which came with a cowboy dressing up set and he has a plastic sword which makes noises which came with a pirate costume.  When my friends little boy came to play he was playing with them and was very aggressive then saying all kinds of well, not very nice things.  He is a lovely boy normally, very polite lovely manners and generally very well behaved. 

Harry has now been playing with these more frequent and has started to get aggressive when playing with them and has been saying things i dont want a 6 year old to say like i'm going to shoot your head off etc..

I took them out of the toy box yesterday without making a big deal out it and I've put them away out of sight. 

I not going to allow him to play with these now, especially as there is so much gun and knife crime today.  I know he is only 6 and some of you may think I've over reacted but I just dont want him playing with that sort of stuff.

It never bothered me before, if it did i would never have allowed him to have them first off I suppose it was because my brother always played with them and it did him no harm.

Posted: 03 June 2008 at 12:33pm | IP Logged

Hi hun my son (who's 7 in 11 days) doesn't have guns or swords as such but i know he has played with them, he has the water pistol shaped guns and small peter pan swords..... he know's it's not a nice thing and he knows if it was real people would end up dead..... he's a bright button and when he's playing with friends he does use words such as i'm going to blow your head off etc powww got ya.... to me the words are a lot better than him actually going over and hitting the person on the head.

I've never had to sit down with him and if i say becareful he says we're only pretending mummy, we're not really in the army otherwise i might be dead if jamies was a better shot!

He's come home from school asking mummy whats sex? and when i ask him what he thinks it means he says making babies...... and we talk from there. To me a six/seven yr old asking about sex was more of a shock. They get exposed to all sorts and i suppose i'm of the nature if they want to they can play as long as it's all imagination and they understand the dangers.  

I think the choice is yours but i have never stoped my son as i know he knows the facts and not a case of it's a no, cause if i said that it would be a bigger tempation but he knows he's not allowed actual physical contact if they are playing games like that due to the fact that someone could get hurt.....

Incidently he's now moved on from guns and swords to playmobile and lego.

Posted: 03 June 2008 at 1:23pm | IP Logged

I don't think you over reacted at all, i am wary about letting kids play with gun and knife Paraphernalia, when i worked with primary schoold children there was this one lad who was totally OBSESSED with guns knives and bombs and it wasn't normal or healthy, he was a right handful and he was soo aggressive towards the others when playing with them...and also a lot of those types of toys don't pass safety tests which is another concearn of mine.

I know we all used to play with those types of toys, but then we also used to play outside without fear...times have changed too much and i don't want my children to think of guns and knives as toys, or as normal. I think the real thing is paraded about too freely now, i mean if you go to a market now, you see these stalls with weapons on, and they attract teenage lads and young boys, they are soo easily accessible.

Well i have gone off on a tangent, but i suppose it really depends on how much you think your child can understand at this age, and that is something only we as their mothers will know.

Posted: 03 June 2008 at 1:49pm | IP Logged

I agree you have to do what you think is best for your children.

Edward is exposed to guns in real life as his daddy has a shotgun and shoots clays. He also occassionally does pigeon and rabbit shooting. He wants edward to grow up with a respect for guns so he has shown him it but mainly how to clean it etc.

If Edward plays with the one gun he has i tell him not to shoot people. So he shoots into the sky (like daddy). As he gets older I know the war play will start and I'll deal with that when i get there.

My brother and I played guns etc too, but I do think you need to be more careful these days.

Posted: 03 June 2008 at 1:58pm | IP Logged

I dont like Joshua to have guns or swords, we have neither in this house. Joshua sometimes plays with guns when he's at one of his friends houses, but he always comes back and tells me he didnt shoot at anyone as thats not nice. We were out once with friends, they all got to choose from a selection of toys as prizes, both other boys choose a cowboy set with guns in, Joshua said guns are not good toys to have, and choose the bob the builder set. He knows my rules, and it doesn't seem to bother him. I occassionally catch him playing shooting games, or fighting games with other toys (like power rangers games) and he'll come out with the most horrendous comments. He gets told for these, and he does seem to be curbing his comments.

I dont think you over reacted at all. I grew up playing cowboys and indians and such forth, but then it was a game, all about catching and winning and chasing. Now these toys are portrayed only as a violent toy, there purpose is to 'maim' the other children or 'kill' them in order to win. I think parents should take responsible action about violent toys, if only to try and prevent another generation of kids like what is on the streets today.

Posted: 03 June 2008 at 2:17pm | IP Logged

Cameron doesn't have guns or swords and I'd prefer him not to personally. I don't think you've over reacted at all. To be honest, Cameron has quite a quiet nature, and has never particularly played with 'boys' toys - he's always been far more interested in drawing, painting, writing and puzzles.  Although I think he has found his passion now......Dr Who. He is obsessed with everything to do with it - and has asked for a sonic screwdriver for his birthday this week!

Anyway - kind of rambled there! What I'm trying to say is I wouldn't buy toy weapons for Cameron, and I agree with Snibbug in that I don't want him to grow up thinking guns and swords etc are toys.

xxx