There is no reason for guns to be included in children’s toys.
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By Sarah Fader
My parents purchased a toy robot for my son at the local 99-cent store. It was in a sealed package, so the contents of the box were unclear. I opened the box and found that the robot was holding a small toy gun in his red plastic hand.
Several thoughts went through my mind at that moment. I was angry that there was a gun inside the box. I had to address that feeling. Why was I angry?
I was mad because my son, who is seven years old, has never seen a gun in real life. My child has never played with a toy gun. He has made swords out of paper and shields out of cardboard.
Those things I am OK with. A model version of a lethal weapon? I am not alright with this.
On October 1, 2015, Christopher Harper-Mercer killed 10 people and injured nine using a gun. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident where a gun was used to slaughter innocent people in America. Shootings in The United States are becoming so common that when we read about them in the media, we are no longer surprised. Horrified? Yes. Surprised? Not so much.
When I noticed the tiny black object in the palm of the red robot’s hand, I felt the anger in the pit of my stomach. It began to rise into my esophagus, and at once, I spoke to my son:
“I am throwing this gun away,” I said calmly. Though I was furious that the gun was in the package, I managed to control my temper.
“Why?” Asked my 7-year-old. “I want to play with it. It’s part of the toy.”
I paused for a moment not knowing what to say next. After a beat, I replied:
“I didn’t know it was in the box. I’m sure grandma and grandpa didn’t know either. If they did, they probably wouldn’t have bought it.”
This answer wasn’t acceptable to my 7-year-old. He whined and begged to keep the gun. I refused, and he watched as I threw the toy into the black garbage can in our kitchen.
My son does not need to play with a toy gun to enjoy imaginative play. He loves robots, and it is perfectly fine for him to enjoy his toy without having a gun involved. There is a bigger problem at hand here: the toy industry feels that it is appropriate and lucrative to include play guns in children’s toys. This is outrageous. The underlying assumption here is that guns are commonplace. By including these weapons in toys, we are teaching our children that guns are fun.
What we should be showing them is that guns are, in fact, dangerous weapons that have the potential to kill people.
There is no reason for guns to be included in children’s toys. They can have a fulfilling play experience without the use of toy weapons of mass destruction. With the rise of mass shootings in The United States, it’s time to take control of what messages we are teaching children at a young age about guns. This starts by monitoring the toys with which they play.
Parents can monitor what their children are playing with, but it goes beyond this task. As a society, we need to put pressure on toy companies to stop including weapons in their merchandise, which is being marketed towards children. If these organizations can’t or won’t take these ethical actions, we must bring pressure on them to do so. I want my children to grow up in a world where mass shootings are uncommon. An important way to accomplish this goal is to fight against the use of weapons as being acceptable for child’s play.
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This story originally appeared on Ravishly.
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Reading this makes me very thankful I did not have parent’s like the author.
” ‘I am throwing this gun away,’ I said calmly. Though I was furious that the gun was in the package, I managed to control my temper. ‘Why?’ Asked my 7-year-old. ‘I want to play with it. It’s part of the toy.’ I paused for a moment not knowing what to say next. After a beat, I replied: ‘I didn’t know it was in the box. I’m sure grandma and grandpa didn’t know either. If they did, they probably wouldn’t have bought it.’ This answer wasn’t acceptable to my 7-year-old. He whined and begged to keep the gun. I refused,… Read more »
If I may speak my mind somewhat candidly here- whether it’s ultra-ultra-liberal or ultra-ultra-conservative, reductionist thinking somehow always spirals down into ridiculously simplistic extremes of unhinged absurdity, sanctimony, and self-satisfaction. The problem, dear friend, is not in our toys -or what’s in our toys’ hands- but rather, in ourselves, and in our own hearts, minds, & hands. It’s not the presence or absence of a toy gun that made the difference- but reducing it down to that makes the fear of the unknown tangible, quantifiable and thus, controllable. Frankly, that symbolic act is the only ‘gun control’ that anyone can… Read more »
Yeah my mom tried that too, back in the 80’s. Next thing she knew, sticks turned into guns, toy swords turned into guns, pens and pencils turned into guns.
She gave up.
Maybe you’ll have better luck.
Tommy gun cap gun commercial from the 60s. Toys like this saturated the market. Didn’t see a lot of mass shootings in the 70s. Your theory is invalid, try again. Something else changed in American culture to enable mass murderers. Do better research…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMqd5EQXD-g
There is a logic to the OP, but I believe its logic is flawed: “There is no reason for guns to be included in children’s toys. They can have a fulfilling play experience without the use of toy weapons of mass destruction. With the rise of mass shootings in The United States, it’s time to take control of what messages we are teaching children at a young age about guns. This starts by monitoring the toys with which they play.” In other words- police the toys stringently enough, control & sanitize a uniform message, and everything will be fine. Just… Read more »
I can’t believe people think like this. You are worried about mass shootings? You should be worried about when our ‘sons’ grow up unable to protect their country from the evil out there. If you have family members that are in the military fighting for your country, there is a bigger war out there. You want it to get to the point where we can’t defend ourselves? Then you will kill us all. Only the strong survive lady. There is better ways to educate our sons and daughters about violent weapons, not taking away toy guns trying to decrease exposure.
Generations of kids played with GI Joes who all had guns. Toy soldiers were a staple of boyhood long before then too. Yet mass shootings were unheard of. I fail to see your logic.
Thank you for the inspiration to make my own blog post about this LOL http://themothereffingshit.blogspot.com/2015/12/i-took-away-my-sons-toy-gunsand-now-we.html
I am a bit confused as to why it is ok for a child to play with a sword, which also has the potential to kill and take human life, but not a gun. Just because guns can kill more people faster? It seems to me that because guns and gun control are such a hot topic right now people seem to see them as the enemy and not the people wielding them. The problem is what we teach our children about guns and weapons. Not the weapons themselves. Simply taking your child’s toy guns away doesn’t teach him about… Read more »
Ms. Fader, You said ” He has made swords out of paper and shields out of cardboard. Those things I am OK with. A model version of a lethal weapon? I am not alright with this.” “What we should be showing them is that guns are, in fact, dangerous weapons that have the potential to kill people.” Interesting … In October, “Sword-wielding man kills 2 in Swedish school attack” Also recently “Utah man jailed after threatening woman with samurai sword” Also recently “A man was hospitalized and hit with criminal charges Friday, after police said he was spotted swinging and… Read more »
“…swords out of paper and shields out of cardboard. Those things I am OK with.”
Why? I’m not equating swords with guns in terms of potential for mass violence, just wondering why you wouldn’t simply instruct a child that “weapons are not toys, ever.”
Johns Hopkins student from N.J. is cleared in samurai-sword killing of intruder: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/johns_hopkins_student_from_nj_1.html
Spartan shield test:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bRZ22UCnMNk
Because we are not seeing mass sword fights in the media. We are seeing mass shootings in the news that include guns.
Key words, “in the media” but as you could see in my response, I showed examples of killings/murders by sward. Weather mass or individual, swards are used for murder which flies in the face of what you said that I quoted.