![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Freakin' Doyin, guys....
Dear Care and Feeding,
I have two boys, aged 8 and 5, who have recently been introduced to nerf guns. My husband and I are not gun people, and I personally have a lot of anxiety about school shootings and sending my kids out into a world with guns. It’s important to me that they understand that guns are not toys, and I hate the idea of them having pretend wars with their friends. My cousin died by suicide when I was a teenager, and even though I know nerf guns are pretend and lots of kids have them, I can’t help but hate everything they represent. We don’t allow them in the house, but it seems like every friend of theirs has them and when we go over to play they inevitably gravitate towards them. I’m not sure what to do. It seems unreasonable to not allow them to play with certain toys at a friend’s house and I don’t know if this is a personal hang up of mine or if I have cause to be concerned. Is this something I should try to let go of, or is this something I should draw stricter boundaries around and ask their friends’ parents to put them away before we come over?
—Can’t they just play with LEGOs?
Dear LEGOs,
I’ve made no secret in this column that I’m the biggest anti-gun person you’ll find. But even I think your fears about toy guns could be overblown.
Growing up, I had all types of toy guns in my house and played “Cops and Robbers” on a daily basis with my brothers and other buddies. On top of that, as a teenager, I played a ton of violent video games that included gunning down humans, zombies, aliens, and animals with semi-automatic weapons. But guess what? There was never a moment in my life where I felt like I wanted to turn the pretend world into real life because my parents did an amazing job of teaching me right from wrong. Not to mention, as a grown man, I occasionally dabble in violent video games and I still despise guns with a passion.
Yes, America has a big gun problem. But I definitely don’t recommend you ask other parents to put away their toy guns. Your son will be OK if he plays with them. If you teach your sons about the dangers of real guns, they will get the picture. Kids are way smarter than we give them credit for. Talking to parents about putting their real guns away is a different story entirely, of course. Take a deep breath and let your kids be kids.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/03/how-to-manage-parents-expectations-parenting-advice.html
I have two boys, aged 8 and 5, who have recently been introduced to nerf guns. My husband and I are not gun people, and I personally have a lot of anxiety about school shootings and sending my kids out into a world with guns. It’s important to me that they understand that guns are not toys, and I hate the idea of them having pretend wars with their friends. My cousin died by suicide when I was a teenager, and even though I know nerf guns are pretend and lots of kids have them, I can’t help but hate everything they represent. We don’t allow them in the house, but it seems like every friend of theirs has them and when we go over to play they inevitably gravitate towards them. I’m not sure what to do. It seems unreasonable to not allow them to play with certain toys at a friend’s house and I don’t know if this is a personal hang up of mine or if I have cause to be concerned. Is this something I should try to let go of, or is this something I should draw stricter boundaries around and ask their friends’ parents to put them away before we come over?
—Can’t they just play with LEGOs?
Dear LEGOs,
I’ve made no secret in this column that I’m the biggest anti-gun person you’ll find. But even I think your fears about toy guns could be overblown.
Growing up, I had all types of toy guns in my house and played “Cops and Robbers” on a daily basis with my brothers and other buddies. On top of that, as a teenager, I played a ton of violent video games that included gunning down humans, zombies, aliens, and animals with semi-automatic weapons. But guess what? There was never a moment in my life where I felt like I wanted to turn the pretend world into real life because my parents did an amazing job of teaching me right from wrong. Not to mention, as a grown man, I occasionally dabble in violent video games and I still despise guns with a passion.
Yes, America has a big gun problem. But I definitely don’t recommend you ask other parents to put away their toy guns. Your son will be OK if he plays with them. If you teach your sons about the dangers of real guns, they will get the picture. Kids are way smarter than we give them credit for. Talking to parents about putting their real guns away is a different story entirely, of course. Take a deep breath and let your kids be kids.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/03/how-to-manage-parents-expectations-parenting-advice.html