Kids playing with 'guns'??

[misty]

personally I have no issue with guns. My kids are surrounded by them in our life (have family in rural properties, DH in the army, etc). My aim is to teach 'responsible' gun behaviour. The kids know they can hurt people (and have visited the war memoriall enough to understand this), so they are only ever allowed to aim at targets (even in play) not people or animals.

[MummyNaomi]

I have really changed my thinking on this since having two boys. I never thought I'd like the idea but the boys make guns out of anything. It is such a natural way for them to play so I've come to be meh about it too. I think it's just the way it is and going with the flow is a good approach.

Totally agree with this. DH and DS have nerf guns - DS is only three, my BIL/SIL bought them for their birthdays in April. At first I was a little apprehensive but all they do is play, and laugh - A LOT! They will run around the house chasing each other and have a ball, I am totally comfortable that its harmless and fun, and defintely a boy thing!. DS knows he is allowed to aim the nerf gun below the middle - eg no face or head (they dont do any damage anyway), and I think SIL plans to get me one in July for my birthday so I can join in. Its just another toy, and like everything you teach your child the values you want them to have etc. We also have water pistols and have lots of fun with those too. Having said that I probably wouldn't be so comfortable with a toy gun replica that looked completely the same as a real hand gun. So I contradict myself

[Freya]

Your fighting a losing battle with boys I think. Even the people I know who were the "Oh my kids will NEVER play with guns/swords/etc" people have come to find that even if you dont expose them to it they tend to just figure it out themselves. My boys have owned toy guns but they break quickly and end up in the bin. They make weapons out of lego, duplo, texta's, sticks, toilet rolls, kitchen utensils...................the list goes on. They rarely fight against each other; usually towards zombies.

Honestly, we would be hypocritical to ban weapons considering what my Dh does for a living and considering the minimal access to actual weapons our children have. We explain that real guns etc are NOT toys and that people can get killed, either intentionally or accidentally. We talk about consequences (jail, guilt, missing someone should they get killed).

[Sunny Love]

Guns are used to maim (sp?) or kill, prey or people. We don't do guns, swords, or any kind of weapons in this house. I don't judge it though when I see other kids playing that way though.
I *think* you should follow your gut instinct and level of comfort in order to assess how to approach the topic. Why don't you have a talk with them about their play, ie listen to the context of the play, why the guns are used and then set some boundaries like where they can aim, what the 'gun' is loaded with (let their imagination create something surreal).

In saying that though, we do make hooning car noises (you know, EEK, SCREECH etc etc), and that after recent weekend events has me hesitiant to encourage it again with my own kids, as harmless as its intended on our behalf, it still encourages a dangerous behaviour, and cars are weapons that kill also.

Sorry, I got a bit off track, but I do see where you are coming from. xx

[ss_storm]

There is a saying that guns don't kill people, people kill people.. I think if you teach them (when at an appropriate age) the correct way to use a gun, and the 'rules' surrounding their use, then pretend play is ok.
I grew up on a farm and we often went out shooting, from an early age we were taught about gun safety, and the number one rule is to never ever ever point a gun at someone, loaded or not. When we were old enough we were taught to shoot, I never liked it and deliberately missed what I was trying to hit..lol. But where we grew up guns were just another part of life (not saying it lightly, but every farmer had one, every farmer shot pests etc).

Sort of the same thing as using a knife, they need to know how to use it safely. While I would never allow DD to play with a knife or a pretend gun, if she was using something else to pretend, like a stick, then I think that would be ok, as long as she knew that in the 'real' world doing it with real weapons is not ok. I think playing shooting and other violent video games would cause more harm than pretend play with a stick.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

No issues at all in our house.

We have nerf guns, we want to educate our children on gun safety. DP always says that "guns don't kill people, people kill people" and "guns themselves aren't dangerous its how theyre used"

My grandfather owns/ed a farm back in the day and often went rabbit/fox hunting. Its pretty normal for me.

[MummyNaomi]

They rarely fight against each other; usually towards zombies.

Quite rightly too, Every child should be taught what to do in a Zombie Apocalypse, but that's a whole 'nother thread

[kelebek]

For me personally I wanted DS to learn respect for guns before I allowed him to have a toy one. His dad is a shooter and he sees gun's often enough that I wanted him to be old enough to know the difference. We also talk about how real gun's are a tool to use and the safety and cleaning aspect of owning a gun. I know that is going to be different for everyone and as DS get's older I know I am going to have to be more lax about it.
I am not a fan of those nerf guns until he is older cause I worry about eyes and the bullets maybe I am just being paranoid. He has of course made gun's out of everything but knows I am not keen to have anything to do with that kind of play.
I agree with a PP about thinking about what you are comfortable for your family and going with that. That doesn't mean that in the future you can't change your mind.

[Freya]

Quite rightly too, Every child should be taught what to do in a Zombie Apocalypse, but that's a whole 'nother thread

My 5yo heard about the degree you can do in the US to survive a zombie apocalypse and said "Oh now thats a life skill! But its cheaper to play Left For Dead and you still learn the same things!" I nearly wet myself laughing! I feel very confident that we would most definitely survive a ZA; but apparently Im a zombie risk. I told them that heck yes I am, being a zombie would be the most simplistic happy way to live my life - eat brains all day and not have to clean up? That I can do

[AnyDream]

"Guns don't kill people. People kill people."

But guns make it an awful lot easier for people to kill people in circumstances where the absence of a gun would leave them no means to do so.

The difference between swords and guns is that swords can be used for friendly sword play but a bullet in a gun pointed at a person is going to maim or kill, every time it is deployed.

Having said that I don't allow any type of suggested violence in play - gun or otherwise. To me it's about teaching respect for human life which is our most precious gift.

[HotI]

We were at a friend's place recently and i was quite taken back when DD came out of the kids' room carrying two realistic looking big guns (shotguns?). She was using them as crutches, but it was still not a good look. It hasn't really come up at home yet, but i don't want toy guns in amongst the trains and teddies.

[*EJ*]

I still don't feel comfortable with my kids actually having realistic looking toy guns but i think we will try to discuss things a little further as time and age allows. I'm going to try and take a step back when what it is their doing is purely innocent imaginitive play also. Maybe having a nurf gun is a way to have an example when trying to teach what we as a family feel is acceptable when it comes to guns!?

Thanks so much for your input ladies

[meow]

I don't think you should overly suppress pretend gun play, but I would never buy a realistic toy gun (tizzed up water pistol, yes).

My BIL was the only boy and he was never allowed to do gun play and is still bitter about it as an adult. It seems to be some irrepressible drive in little boys to go through this phase and it's as though we're telling them that what they are is wrong if we out right ban it.

I would teach boundaries around the language used, the targets pointed at and the understanding that it's not a game for public places, or with people who don't want to play guns... then I'd try to turn a blind eye as much as possible!

[MummyNaomi]

My 5yo heard about the degree you can do in the US to survive a zombie apocalypse and said "Oh now thats a life skill!

There is a degree in Zombie Apocalypse Survival? That is awesome!! I must tell my DH, he loves Zombies and will very impressed to hear this. Your 5yo is correct - definitely a life skill hehehehe

*EJ* - sorry to Zombie Hijack

[*EJ*]

Don't aplogise at all!! You've got to love the imagination of a 5yr old