Am I being too precious?

[Calluna]

Please don't think I am attacking anyone or thier choices. I'm not. I just dont want it for my child. So, with that in mind...

I don't like the idea of DS playing with pirates.

Pirates are thieves and murders. Why would I want him to pretend to be that?
To me it its equal to, if not worse than, pretend play with guns. Which I am also dead against.
I don't want him desensitised to this stuff.

Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this! DF thinks I'm being silly.

[*Efjay*]

I think its valid.

BUT I will tell you this.. You can't escape it. kids will play these sort of games regardless. Just do your best to educate them about the history of Pirates etc & hope they see it the same way as you.

[Phteven]

I don't think we can control our children's imagination.
I'm no fan of guns but if my boys pick up a stick and pretend it's a gun/sword/light sabre then it's an act of imagination and I'm not prepared to try and control their pretend play.
Personally if my boys were into pirates I'd buy them a Horrible Histories or similar so they can learn about the realities of pirate life and open a dialogue about piracy (both historically and currently).

[feeb]

I do not like idea of kids playing with guns, and had words with someone who suggested they were buying my boys NERF guns for christmas!

I do not have an issue with pirates as the things my kids have seen and played with that involves them do not see them in such a bad light.

You have to be comfortable at things your kids are playing with and doing. I do not like Ben 10 and those type of shows.

[Calluna]

Yeah, I know, but I figure the longer he remains unexposed the easier it is to explain why I don't like it.
The other thing is, with pirates, they are celebrated. The pirates are the good guys usually.
DF wants to4a pirate theme in his bedroom, cute little pictures of smiley faced knife wielding murders. Lol

[Traveller]

I agree with Onyx, it's hard to protect your kids from things that you consider a bad influence. If you are very opposed to pirates though then it's reasonable that this is not the theme for your son's room, and when he is older and still shows an interest you can do as others suggested and explore the real history behind them.

Personally I was opposed to The Wiggles on the basis of crimes against music, and I managed to avoid any Wiggles influence in my house, so it is possible to stop a particular theme of play from being in your house.

[Phteven]

DF wants to4a pirate theme in his bedroom, cute little pictures of smiley faced knife wielding murders. Lol

Now you've bought out the historian lol.
Caribbean pirates (who are the pirates we think of when we think pirates) tended not to murder the crews and passengers of captured ships because if people know they are going to die they tend to resist fiercely. They also had very democratic communities at a time when slavery was common and most people were excluded from voting.

[Beach Mama]

Mine associate with "good and bad" pirates because they love Jake and the Neverland pirates at the moment. I think that is enough now that they know there are good ones and bad ones and that at some stage we would go into more detail about it but for now if they want to pretend to be Izzy and Jake being pirates and helping others then Im ok with that - having said that, they haven't yet pretended to be Hook doing naughty stuff!

[Rouge]

I wouldn't say you are being precious. But I think you're fighting a losing battle. I prefer to educate rather than blindfold. When it comes to all things. When they are children they don't see the things we see. They see pirates as cool people who get to go on adventures on ships, and look for buried treasure and wear cool hats with feathers in it. They don't see murderers and thieves. But yanno when they are old enough to understand you can explain to them. Same goes for guns or fairy tales or anything else.

But in the end, it's your child and you will choose what is best for your child. And that's all we can do really.

[MummyNaomi]

PMSL @ Traveller and the Wiggle's crime against music

Bwahahaha

[2plus1is3]

Wow, good post. I had never actually thought about this (even though I'm anti toy guns and violent shows). You do have a point, it's kind of like cops & robbers, cowboys & Indians. All things we used to play a good 25 years ago... But now as a parent I think... Hmmm do I really want my son playing that stuff?

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I don't like gun play, or murdering play. DS and I have talked about guns and the dangers. We watch The Iron Giant and Bambi and DS decides he doesn't like guns.

Yesterday, at Church, Liebling and the Vicar's son made toy guns and shot each other at the back of Church while the service was going on. Yay - not. So I am a bit fatalistic about sword-play happening (I was banned swords and guns as a child - so as soon as I could escape my mother's eyes, I played swords and guns).

Personally, I don't mind DS playing Johnny Depp Pirates. Or Captain Pugwash. To be fair, these pirates not only does no-one die but there's very little theft that goes on too, it is a sea adventure instead, with pirates portraied as "goodies" as well as "baddies". But if you do mind it, then you do and I am not going to say that you are wrong. My father is very against Liebling playing pirates due to modern pirating and I respect that - we don't take the skull-and-crossbones pyjamas to his house, we don't play pirates there. My freedom of expression does not include the freedom to upset another with my playing.

[Calluna]

Thanks everyone for your perspectives.
I agree about not blindfolding children. I'm not proposing to not tell him about pirates, guns, or anything else that comes up, just not glorifying it.
I am very open with him about anything he asks questions about, anything that he is introduced to.
I object to the way they are introduced, not that he might find out about them.
I'm no pirate expert lol, in fact I know very little about them, but enough to know that they aren't/weren't nice people and I don't want DS aspiring to be one.

I hope that makes sense, I'm posting from my tablet.

ETA- We don't tell him fairies/ Santa/ Easter bunny etc are real either though. Santa is a game we play - Christmas for us is a (non religious) time to be with family and friends, Easter bunny is the same, fairies are presented as " oh look! She's dressed up as a fairy!" Rather than "look a fairy!" We still have fantasy, but he knows its pretend itms.
I guess this ties in with the pirate thing as they ARE real, but not the same as they can be portrayed. It makes it harder to explain...