Toy guns

[Dare4Distance]

yes and swords

You'd let a child pretend to smoke?

[Hebs]

You'd let a child pretend to smoke?

i was refering to knives

[Hebs]

it's almost like saying that kids who play racing games in toy cars go on to be boy racers

if you dont allow them to play with them, then you are fueling their interest, at least if they do plasy with them you can use it as an opportunity to advise them about the dangers.

and for kids like my oldest mindee and my son, who use their hands (pointing fingers etc) then how would you advise me to take these away from them?

[karen m]

don't have guns in my housemy eldest is 30 and did him no harm not have a toy gun,1 minded child recently started using any toy to pretend it was a gun told him only soldiers have guns and that is to keep us all safe and very rare he mentions them now

[Hebs]

don't have guns in my housemy eldest is 30 and did him no harm not have a toy gun,1 minded child recently started using any toy to pretend it was a gun told him only soldiers have guns and that is to keep us all safe and very rare he mentions them now

my brother is 40 this year and was always playing games (cowboys and indiands/army men etc) ended up in the royal navy and it has never done him any harm either

[kindredspirits]

my brother is 40 this year and was always playing games (cowboys and indiands/army men etc) ended up in the royal navy and it has never done him any harm either

thats debatable really.

[Beckieboo]

I have twin boys who are 7 years old, they go on the park, with their friends and they all play army!
My childrens cousin is in the TA, they have another who want to join the army and they see the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and coming home and also those who are returning after being killed in action.
I feel this is a big part of our lives at the moment and i talk to my children about what is going on, what an excellent job the soldiers are doing and they ask any questions.
I think my children are playing "army" with their friends, not gun wielding thugs in training! I feel education is key and they show a healthy interest in all aspects of the armed forces and this is them letting off excess energy, team building, making friends and enjoying their childhood!

Just my opinion!

[Hebs]

thats debatable really.

excuse me???

what are you trying to imply?

[Hebs]

I have twin boys who are 7 years old, they go on the park, with their friends and they all play army!
My childrens cousin is in the TA, they have another who want to join the army and they see the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and coming home and also those who are returning after being killed in action.
I feel this is a big part of our lives at the moment and i talk to my children about what is going on, what an excellent job the soldiers are doing and they ask any questions.
I think my children are playing "army" with their friends, not gun wielding thugs in training! I feel education is key and they show a healthy interest in all aspects of the armed forces and this is them letting off excess energy, team building, making friends and enjoying their childhood!

Just my opinion!

well said Beckieboo

[ourmadhouse]

like i said i dont mind so much if they use a stick, lego or their fingers. its part of make play/ imagination but i will not hand over a plastic gun to a child.

some do look real . . . and although this is pushing it a fair bit, walk into a bank with a toy gun you still get charged as though it was a real one.

we have all seen in the news that even young children can get their hands on real guns.

imagination paly is not bad thing (using the chance to talk about guns and explain is how i justify it to myself)

i didnt realize just how much this was a sencitive subject, but like i said im happy with what i do, just dont judge others

[Beckieboo]

I realise this is a sensitive issue, and it is very much each to their own, but i must stress that this is my children only, i do not allow guns whilst i am minding and my children know they can only play it when i am not minding. This is because i think it is up to every parent to make their own choice and sometimes it isnt appropriate with an age range of ages, so it is easier to say no whilst minding!!

[Hebs]

my little mindees dont play any voilent games, but my 11 year old mindee and my son do play fight (wrestling type games)

i do not mind my son playing these things,

[little chickee]

yes and swords

I'm agreeing - kids can and do learn and know the difference between playing and real life. I was a total tomboy and was forever playing with guns and toy swords etc - didnt turn me into a serial killer.

My youngest 2 boys (10 & 7) are obsessed with playing "army" and have a range of toy guns - also the dart guns that fire the foam "bullets" I see it as a positive as it gets them out side running about and working together as a team.

They are both real pacifists though and have both said they do not want to join the army when thay are older in case they have to shoot people.

[Hebs]

I'm agreeing - kids can and do learn and know the difference between playing and real life. I was a total tomboy and was forever playing with guns and toy swords etc - didnt turn me into a serial killer.

My youngest 2 boys (10 & 7) are obsessed with playing "army" and have a range of toy guns - also the dart guns that fire the foam "bullets" I see it as a positive as it gets them out side running about and working together as a team.

They are both real pacifists though and have both said they do not want to join the army when thay are older in case they have to shoot people.

well my 10 year old son wants to be a forensic psychologist when he's older, he wants to SOLVE crimes not comit them

[kindredspirits]

excuse me???

what are you trying to imply?

its just a matte of personal opinion - makes the world go round i see playing 'army' as being the same as gun weilding thugs as we are currently occupying parts of the world that have nowt to do with us than making the government profit.

[Hebs]

its just a matte of personal opinion - makes the world go round i see playing 'army' as being the same as gun weilding thugs as we are currently occupying parts of the world that have nowt to do with us than making the government profit.

tell that to a deceased army mans family

and we ARE there for a reason,

[kindredspirits]

i feel sorry for their families, and even sorry for the army man themselves for believing that they are out there to do a good thing - but i feel far more sympathy for the iraqi's and afghans that have had their lives turned upside for one reason - profit for government contractors.
those who still believe that we are there as a result of terrorist attacks want to watch 9/11 ripple effect and 7/7 ripple effect - both available on youtube - very illuminating.

[Hebs]

so you believe some media hype but not others?

[kindredspirits]

the BBC reported that 'tower 7' had collapsed about 10 minutes before it did collapse - how you can trust anything that they say after that I do not know. You can physically see the tower standing behind the reporter - just one of the many proofs that it was not the result of jet fuel burning at impossibly high temps.

[Hebs]

and it couldnt have been something that he misheard therefore misreported?

oh yeah cos that never happenes does it

like you said earlier.......

i think you can get a study to 'prove' anything these days

same goes for media reports, anything can be twisted to back a different view point