I let layla play with a toy gun. I don't think it makes them violent but that's just my personal opinion. I don't think it's good to .J.U.S.T let boys play with the stereotypical boys toys as it raises them to be macho but like I said that is just my opinion.

Layla and logan will share 'boys' and 'girls' toys. I let layla play with car garages etc and logan with dolls. I just want them to grow up believing they are equals.

I don't believe the whole crap of a boy will gorw up gay if he plays with girls toys. Being gay is inbuilt into you. Obviously when he's older i'm not going to force him into playing with girls toys. I understand that he would get the p!Ss took out of him by his mates. I'm just more likely to buy unisex educational toys like the science experiment stuff etc

If your child respects you then I think "violent toys" are ok.

Let me ty to explain.
If you can tell your child, that's enough now, lets stop and play something quiet.
Or you can tell your child it is not appropriate to shoot the little old lady two doors down
then it's fine, if you child does not have the respect or the understanding then no, I don't think they should yet have "violent toys".

As for video games....
First off if it was a movie, would you let them watch it? Use the same kind of guides, can they spilt fantasy and reality? Can them understand that what is in the game is not appropriate in reality?
And then on top of that i'd limit playing time.

So, I guess part of what I am saying is it depends on your and your child and your combined understanding of appropriate.

I do not think a child taking a toy gun to the supermarket and pretending to shoot customers is appropriate.
I do think a child taking a toy gun out in the back yard and pratising hitting cans is fine - that is development of hand and eye co-ordination.

If it is something your child seems very interested in - channel it with a discipline ie join him in an archery group or fencing. If you have a child who likes fighting join him/her into a martial arts group.

That way they are not denied someting they enjoy but they learn to channel it and respect it.

Does that make sense?

I don't let tre play with toy guns...I tell them that they are bad....Because i'm paranoid that one day he may find a real gun and thinking that it is a toy mistakenly shoot someone or himself......Maybe when he is older and can tell the difference I may let him play with them.


As far as video games, I only let him play what is suitable for his age right now which is running, jumping collecting treasure etc.....No kind of violence. When he is older depending on his personality etc. I'll make the decision.

Edited for clarification.

I think there is nothing wrong as long you explain the difference between a toy and the "real thing."

my dad use to let us play with toy guns, condition was we were never allowed to point it at someone.

As for videogames/movies, same deal, kids need to understand that there is a difference, a movie isnt real war is. I think it all depends on how you teach your kids and your personal beliefs/morals!

see that is the problem, toys these days are made to look soooo real, the real weight, the real color everthing except it doesn't shoot real bullets...So its very hard to explain to a just turned 4 yr old (dec 3rd...Yea sag!) how to tell the difference, that why I chose right now to tell him to stay away from all guns regardless.

I don't think that there's anything wrong with it. And it seems like since time began little boys have been playing with toys that can be considered violent. Only then it was wooden swords or sling shots, mini bows and arrows, whatever. I just see it as the modern day equivalent. I think that as long as your child can understand the difference between what's real and what's imaginary that there shouldn't be any problem. I mean look at it this way, how many times did you play cops and robbers or cowboys and indians as a child? Did pretending to shoot someone while playing those games turn you into a violent person?

When .Brian was real young I swore I would never let my kids play with them. However, it became a huge interest to him because of friends playing with them and seeing movies with guns in them, that I felt that it may be a bigger issue if it was something he was banned from. We have discussed with .Brian the difference between a toy gun and a real gun and the same with violet movies.

Some cartoons and the local news talk/show more about violence than adult movies

I hear all of you......So tell me how exactly can you explain to a young child how to the difference between a toy gun and a real gun, especially when the police themselves can't tell the difference until they get it in their possession?

I'm not talking about the little plastic guns that are different colors or the water guns or the obvious plastic toys.....

As far as it being a big issue because they are banned from it, I think it depends on the child because if you bring a gun to my son he will say he doesn't want it because guns are dangerous, just like knives, electrical sockets, playing in the street etc.

I've never seen a toy gun that looks real. I wasn't aware that they made any that look real... Are they available in regular toy stores, then?

no, it probably didn't turn you into a violent person, but honestly how many times have you heard on the news that some kid killed another kid because they were either pretending to shoot their friend or playing around with a real gun only to have it accidentally go off.

And yes we all know our kids and what they are capable of, but parents of these kids say the same thing, when kids are killed from wrestling maneuvers or from trying a move from a video game. The majority of them could have sworn that their children knew better and could tell the difference between reality and fiction.

yup,it was on the news and on an episode of cops. On the news there was a guy who pointed a gun at someone crossing the street and the police were called.When they cought the guy it wasn't real,but he had taken the orange cap off of the tip to make it look real.

Are you serious!?! The only ones i've ever seen in stores are flourescent colors. Not just the tip, the whole toy. Even the cap guns are flourescent yellow and stuff

Does it matter if they think its real or not? At a young age they will think both are the same, real and toy. So? Its not like they will get their hands on a real gun being so young, not in the uk anyway. Thats not a dig at america/'s gun laws but I guess it would be likely there? But yea I dont see a problem with it. Its harmless fun. And they should know what a gun/sword is for through playing.

One of my neighbours has a 3yr old boy, he plays with so many plastic guns. If he cant find one, he'll get another smallish toy he can hold with 1 hand and pretend thats a gun hes just having fun chasing us all and pretending to 'fire' kill us lol

video games...I'd only allow certain ones in the house I guess. They have ages on them anyway now, so if they are too young they cant purchase it. Of course you dont know what they get upto at friends houses Its better if they have hobbies outside or not at home, so they dont play video/computer games much imo.

yesm! For real.There have been about 5 cases in the last year(where I live anyway) with people walking around with water guns,that had taken the cap off and were acting as though they were real.A guy even tried to hold up a wendy's or something like that with a water gun! Lol someone noticed the little cap thing where you put the water in and they called the cops. Retard. . .

Again proof that to be a criminal you've got to be an fool...

It comes back to respect.
Teach your child they can't play with the gun unless mommy or daddy or other "safe" adult has checked it to make sure it is ok.

i had one that looked real. Was just a cap gun, but looked like a little pistol. I could definetly cause some trouble, if taken to the wrong place. I don't know where it came from though, I found it in an old car my parents bought, and my dad let me keep it. I remember when I was little, my dad had a revolver in one of his desk drawer's at home and I found it one day, and thought oh cool another toy. Not so cool, i'm glad nothing bad happened, but it could have.

I would say not to give children one's that look real, but it would be alright to let them use a squirt gun or something. Kia is right about maturity in children, it's kinda your own judgement. You have to teach your children that real guns aren't toys.

I don't have a huge problem with bright colored squirt guns and such, though I don't like guns, in general. The problem is that many children, according to research (it's been a while since I read it, so I can't quote, but if you look around, there may be something online), in the absence of actual toy guns, swords, knives, etc. Will use blocks, popsicle sticks, and such as pretend guns..It's just something that kids do..I would much prefer the imaginitive guns to those toys that actually look like guns, as those toys can also be used to make buildings, bridges, cars, and other such things. The imagination is a wonderful thing if children are allowed (even, expected) to use it. I do have a huge problem with the guns that are looking more and more real and have actual projections that shoot out of them. A boy here, in florida, not terribly long ago was shot to death because he pointed a fake, but very realistic looking gun at a police officer. The boy was in middle school and had removed the tip of the gun that is supposed to identify it as a toy...Only a few months ago, my husband bought my boys airsoft guns (which I protested loudly about). These are the play guns that are actually supposedly used as target type guns..They shoot plastic pellet like bbs....What upset me is that these guns actually looked like the real thing and the orange plastic thing that goes on the end was removable!!!! It upset me so much (especially after the incident with the middle school boy) that my husband sold them....
I agree that boys playing with "girl" toys is just fine....I would much prefer, though, to foster their creativity and allow them to construct their toys from basic materials, whenever possible...

What bothers me is a child pointing a toy gun (any color really) at someone else and saying "bang bang, you're dead!" and giggling about it. I know they're playing, but that horrifies me.

and a lot of the cartoons I would watch when I was little don't sit well with me today. Like .Elmer .Fudd chasing .Buggs .Bunny with a gun, and saying he's hunting rabbits.

I just don't like that...