Giving kids toy guns / dollies and prams.

[PeanutBean]

I was a bit confused by your post jasmak but it seems to have been cleared up! Lol. I've never seen a real or even a replica gun in real life in the UK. I was pretty freaked out when I went to Amsterdam airport and there were police everywhere carrying massive rifles of some sort! There are some very isolated areas in inner cities where there is illegal gun activity. Beyond that any incidents using guns are usually by hunting/army types gone crackers or farmers, all of which are likely to hold licences.

 

[OmarsMum]

My brother who's 8 yrs younger than me used to sneak to my room & play with my doll house with his girl friends when he was around 4-5 old. He prefered to play with girls toys. Now he's 24 & it never affected him. My eldest was into guns & shooting video games. I still don't know about Omar, once he's older he can choose what he wants to play with. He has a doll (mine) but he doesnt like her & he always shouts at her.

 

[JASMAK]

Yeah, the police carry hand guns here, not big rifles. OMG that would be scary. So some places do have guns, and some don't. Interesting.

 

[aliss]

Yeah, the police carry hand guns here, not big rifles. OMG that would be scary. So some places do have guns, and some don't. Interesting.

Out here in most municipal departments (Delta, NW, West Van) they do carry the bean bag shotguns in each car now. Pretty impressive and a good idea ^_^

 

[JASMAK]

Yeah, the police carry hand guns here, not big rifles. OMG that would be scary. So some places do have guns, and some don't. Interesting.

Out here in most municipal departments (Delta, NW, West Van) they do carry the bean bag shotguns in each car now. Pretty impressive and a good idea ^_^

Aliss, do you work municipal police, or RCMP? I know we both work for police. I work for RCMP as a municipal employee. I am a Watch Clerk, so I work directly with the members.

 

[aliss]

Yeah, the police carry hand guns here, not big rifles. OMG that would be scary. So some places do have guns, and some don't. Interesting.

Out here in most municipal departments (Delta, NW, West Van) they do carry the bean bag shotguns in each car now. Pretty impressive and a good idea ^_^

Aliss, do you work municipal police, or RCMP? I know we both work for police. I work for RCMP as a municipal employee. I am a Watch Clerk, so I work directly with the members.

I've bounced around ^_^ but I'm currently a member of the Buffalo Club I'm on radio.... we're detachment-based so I'm normally on a watch but I went auxiliary when the piglet came along!

 

[JASMAK]

So, you are back at work? Auxiliary means volunteer, right? Or no??? I actually want to find something different. I work for the city, so I will try to get something else. I have had many city positions before..and I moved to Police Support Services as a switchboard operator/transcriptionist, and then moved to the Watch Clerk position. I just hate nights though and living like a zombie. I suppose you must do nights to. So, you do dispatch hey...so 911 then?

 

[Dopeyjopey]

A can play with whatever he likes. If he wants to have a toy gun to play cops and robbers that's fine with me. He would be told never to point it at anyone who didn't know what game he is playing and if i ever caught him acting out gang warfare he would get a warning that guns would be taken away if he did it again. I think children are far more interested in things they're not allowed so i'd rather he had access to them and learnt respect for those things.

 

[aliss]

So, you are back at work? Auxiliary means volunteer, right? Or no??? I actually want to find something different. I work for the city, so I will try to get something else. I have had many city positions before..and I moved to Police Support Services as a switchboard operator/transcriptionist, and then moved to the Watch Clerk position. I just hate nights though and living like a zombie. I suppose you must do nights to. So, you do dispatch hey...so 911 then?

Nope I'm paid but I'm just on call rather than on a watch, mostly nights & holidays. Yeah nights suck, so far I've only been doing 7pm-4am (including halloween weekend). Boourns!

Thinking of another city position then? OH is with ediv so we're transfering back to c div in a few months (montreal), I won't be doing it then cause my French is bad!

 

[JASMAK]

So, you are back at work? Auxiliary means volunteer, right? Or no??? I actually want to find something different. I work for the city, so I will try to get something else. I have had many city positions before..and I moved to Police Support Services as a switchboard operator/transcriptionist, and then moved to the Watch Clerk position. I just hate nights though and living like a zombie. I suppose you must do nights to. So, you do dispatch hey...so 911 then?

Nope I'm paid but I'm just on call rather than on a watch, mostly nights & holidays. Yeah nights suck, so far I've only been doing 7pm-4am (including halloween weekend). Boourns!

Thinking of another city position then? OH is with ediv so we're transfering back to c div in a few months (montreal), I won't be doing it then cause my French is bad!

yeah, I have worked in Finance, Accounting Services, Parks Yard, City Yard, Legislative Services, and of course, my very first city job as a lifeguard with Parks and Rec. Who knows where next!!!

 

[ShanandBoc]

Toy guns should be banned imo. Why we have made toys out of deadly weapons is beyond me.

If kids make pretend guns out of their hands, lego etc theres not much you can do but giving them a gun as a toy imo just doesnt sit well with me.

Same goes for children playing violent video games - some of them are really bad

 

[Dragonfly]

Toy guns should be banned imo. Why we have made toys out of deadly weapons is beyond me.

If kids make pretend guns out of their hands, lego etc theres not much you can do but giving them a gun as a toy imo just doesnt sit well with me.

Same goes for children playing violent video games - some of them are really bad

reminds me of a friends son, he had an xbox and grand theift auto, going around shooting poeple , stealing money and cars and he was a violent child as it was he was in p2 which is about 5 years old. She had her hands full with him but when he lost the game of was killed in it he smashed things up in MY house! we had to hide our xbox and pretend we sold it. Ever notice how boys aimed toys are all aggressive? toy guns, knives, swords, bows, games about killing.

 

[PeanutBean]

That's because boys are supposed to be tough and macho. Sad world.

 

[midori1999]

I really doubt that the sole act of playing with guns or prams/dolls is likely to have any marked effect on how children grow up.

That said, I do not allow my boys to play with toy guns as I don't see it as constructive play and think it leads to overly boisy and boisterous behaviour, which I can't stand.

I do let my 14 year old and 9 year old go shooting with my husband though, although the 9 year old is not allowed to shoot/handle a gun yet as I do not feel he is mature enough to fully appreciate the safety aspects. The 14 year old does have his 'own' shotgun though, as in one that was specifically bought for him to shoot, but obviously my husband owns it and it is on his shotgun licence. Shooting is a sport we enjoy as a family and a part of country life really. I am happy for the boys to be involved in shooting wild rabbits etc as I want them to understand they are vermin, but I also want them to understand that if we are going to kill an animal it is wrong to waste it, so we eat them or feed them to our dogs.

 

[redpoppy]

I used to love playing violent video games as a teenager. There was operation wolf where you went around blasting everything to smithereens and then had to go onto an aeroplane and save a bunch of hostages. But we discovered that shooting the hostages was actually far more funny. It was a game. Someone programmed it. It was just as funny when the lemmings in that lemming game used to fall off the cliff.

Most children make the most wild statements of death and blood and misery or maybe just kids in our family?

I've never hit anyone in my life (apart from some boys in primary school and pushing a racist girl when I was around 11 both times I was defending myself.) I still find violent slapstick funny. The scene in hangover when the naked guy jumps out and starts attacking them with a crowbar or in superbad where the fat kid gets run over but the reversing car. Both had me in stitches.

I also used to play "witches" and make potions and turn people into frogs or rodents. I was a superhero with amazing fire powers and all sorts. Games are games and unless children have learning difficulties, neglectful parents or are too young then I think it has very little influence on their adult behaviour. I wouldn't want a young kid playing grand theft auto but a teenager who I trusted and knew I wouldn't have issue with at all.

As for men being programmed into being tough and macho, if I'm honest I think for the most part the UK is very good at producing a whole range of men and women but the reality is that men have a different body chemistry to women and that makes them inherently different. Some men will like boxing and like to box. They love UFC. They want to be mixed martial arts experts. They enjoy participating and being in physical fights much more than women. Not ALL men, not ALL women but there is an element which is definitely there and definitely different.

I think the only dangers are PUSHING kids into doing gender assigned things they don't want to do or pushing them towards violence or passivity or not being there for them and not talking to them about issues of gender, violence or any other social controversies.

Nurture children, let them enjoy make believe and toys. Let them be super-heroes or sci-fi agents who have to kill to save humanity or get them game sin which they can kick people in the head with no reality or consequence if they want. So long as you spent time with them and teach them to appreciate life and to care for humanity I really think it makes no difference.

 

[Dragonfly]

I wasnt saying that these toys can cause violence just noticed all boys ones where aggressive. Just a passing comment. I am sure not all kids who had toy guns turned out to be robbers and shot people I just choose not to have them in my home theres plenty of other toys for my son to play with . My son cleans the house with a cleaning set , brush , mop henry vac! what he wants to do as he sees mum and dad doing it. And if I have a girl this time she can play with cars or whatever theres no gender assignment here but no guns.

 

[lulu61388]

i grew up in a neighborhood that was mainly full of boys including my older brother. he had a few different play guns but it was very obvious that it was pretend. the gun would be orange or red, nothing that looked real. he also had a pellet gun but my dad would never let him play with it unsupervised and never when i was outside too.

i'd let my future child play with guns because like it was said before, boys will be boys and make guns out of anything. it is the responsibility of the parent to explain what pretend it and how dangerous real guns are. i also don't feel like allowing a boy to play with a gun is prepping them to be this big macho man later in life.

i'm sure my brother played baby dolls with me when i was little, but he was also quite a bit older than me so he probably only did it to be nice to his little sister.

 

[Dragonfly]

i grew up in a neighborhood that was mainly full of boys including my older brother. he had a few different play guns but it was very obvious that it was pretend. the gun would be orange or red, nothing that looked real. he also had a pellet gun but my dad would never let him play with it unsupervised and never when i was outside too.

i'd let my future child play with guns because like it was said before, boys will be boys and make guns out of anything. it is the responsibility of the parent to explain what pretend it and how dangerous real guns are. i also don't feel like allowing a boy to play with a gun is prepping them to be this big macho man later in life.

i'm sure my brother played baby dolls with me when i was little, but he was also quite a bit older than me so he probably only did it to be nice to his little sister.

I grew up in an estate full of boys to and no one was allowed one as it could be mistaken for a real one by soldiers and that wasnt good. My dad had a pellet gun un the 70s and was in a ship on the docks down town, thats where he worked and was walking about with it only to be surrounded by police, soldiers and the lot and told to drop it

 

[SKATERBUN]

Does anyone think there is actually anything positive gained from a LO playing with a pistol? In my experience I have always found little boys playing with fake weapons aggressive either during or afterwards and not sure if its healthy to encourage.
I don't think there's anything constructive with playing with guns, we all know guns in real life kill and maim instantly. I think this is why it scares me as toy guns can look so realistic. Ok a water pistol is probably the exception to the rule, but the ones that fire pellets, make loud banging noises or looks menacing when pointed at you. I dont think I could handle my LO running round with one of those I'd have a nervous breakdown!

 

[PeanutBean]

I don't think there's anything positive about them and certainly nothing gained that other toys couldn't provide. I'm not afraid of kids turning out to be gang members from playing with guns as I don't believe toy guns can have any such effect. But I don't think it's nice nor necessary play.