apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We were taught never to point guns at people, family pets, or ourselves.( including finger guns, water guns, or dad-cleaning a gun- we were all to go outside) I would like for people to start teaching gun safety. Our guns are always locked away. But sometimes we hear of a child who finds a gun and kills someone. If only we could teach our kids about safety. This stems to other topics like drugs, strangers, what to do if your lost. Lets get back to teaching our kids what to do. I know its some what silly but I cannot help to think of the story of Sleeping Beauty. The king banished all the spinning wheels and she still pricks her finger on one. If they would have taught her in the first place, "don't touch this part" or even "steer clear of these" she might have known what to do when she did find one. We shouldn't banish them because of negligence on the parents behalf. My husband is a sheriff deputy. We are going to have guns in our house. Our son is one year of age. I worry but I know how to help prevent a tragic accident. That is to teach our son guns aren't toys. If the government does decide to ban guns this will mean only criminals will have guns. Think of illegal drugs and how easy it is to get them. That's exactly how easy it will be to get a gun. I know not everyone will even come close to agreeing. Getting rid of things wont solve the true problem. Teaching our kids right from wrong is a small step but if more would step up we will resolve our problems.

I can see how it is a nice idea in theory, but I do think that violence on TV or in video games is more influential than a toy watergun. I also agree that the key is to teach our children about violence, not just remove toy guns. In my experience, my brothers absolute favorite toy was a play shotgun and I remember us having long hours of play with a couple of western looking pistols. Oh, and every kid I knew had a super-soaker :) My parents told us we werent allowed to point the guns at people or pretend to shoot people. It worked well for us. I have also seen families that didnt allow any toy guns and their children made guns out of sticks, other toys, even food. I just dont think removing toy guns is realistic. What about toy knives and swords? Where would it end?

Agree with both above posters.

Just another "seconded" here. Legislation is no substitute for education; children must be taught social responsibility, not have their responsibility to be human taken from them by futile attempts at turning the whole world into a playpen.

With 7 & 11 year old boys, I can testify that not allowing toy guns in the house, and insisting on following the ratings on video games & movies has created 2 kids who understand that guns & violence are bad. They are also strong enough to tell their peers that they're not allowed to play a particular game/watch a particular movie because of the rating.

Obviously, we talk about these things as well, it'w not enough to just ban toy guns, but with the other things we've done, my boys are compassionate, sensitive souls. It can be done. Here's hoping I do as well when they're in high school and they're saying no to alcohol...and...YIKES!

"If children aren’t exposed to violent toys during their younger years, then the amount of violence in their adulthood should decrease."

On what evidence are you basing such a statement?

Guns don't kill people, people kill people. I have an uncle who hunts deer and game, my father had a shotgun in the basement for safety and my grandfather was an antique militia and arms dealer.
My grandfather would take me to the rifle range when I was young and he would let me watch him clean his guns. Even though I wasn't "banned" from the guns, I knew what a gun was for. It was to kill. And you don't shoot or hold or touch a gun unless you plan to kill something or someone. Too many kids today aren't taught about guns or even told that there is a gun in the house. So when a little boy snooping in his father's sock drawer finds a gun, if he hasn't been told or shown that when you pull the trigger something extremely dangerous will happen, he won't know and he'll want to find out himself. Don't shelter your kids people they'll just rebel when they go to college, just be frank with them give them the facts and hope they make smart decisions.

Teaching kids that weapons are not for fun and that real ones hurt people is the real issue. Playing with toy versions in mock violent situations or watching things full of violence desensitizes kids to the fact that the real versions cause permanent harm. There's no start over or getting back up to do it again. It's up to the parents to teach that.

Recently I was appalled when I found my young child crying at a play date because wooden swords and mock violent play were being directed at him as the "bad guy". He was afraid and didn't understand why they were trying to hurt him when he hadn't done anything to them. The mother didn't think anything of it and it was definitely the last time we'll be going there. Personally we don't allow those kinds of toys or programs in our house and that has worked well for us in raising kids who are compassionate and kind.