Are war toys really so bad?

[Freefall11111]

The veteran benefits are nice, if you survive to become a vet. There's always that chance, as sad as it is.

Given that the vast majority of the armed forces aren't anywhere near the frontlines (and that percentage will decrease over time), it's probably the smallest concern you could have.

[Grande Republic of Arcadia]

The veteran benefits are nice, if you survive to become a vet. There's always that chance, as sad as it is.

Given that the vast majority of the armed forces aren't anywhere near the frontlines (and that percentage will decrease over time), it's probably the smallest concern you could have.

Yeah, but I want to either become an Army Pilot or a Army tank driver so there will always the chance of me getting shot down or blown up

[Kubra]

Children may fight or compete, maybe as sides or factions or gangs, but whether or not they'll see it as a war and see themselves as soldiers is something else entirely. I'm guessing you lot did.

no not really and Im guessing you dont know how kids play war, or soldiers or what ever you want to call it.

I should, given that I was once a young boy playing war. We had ranks, bruv. Very clearly designated roles and daily tasks, too.

[The 93rd Coalition]

I'll give you my army guys when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.

[New Axiom]

Given that the vast majority of the armed forces aren't anywhere near the frontlines (and that percentage will decrease over time), it's probably the smallest concern you could have.

Yeah, but I want to either become an Army Pilot or a Army tank driver so there will always the chance of me getting shot down or blown up

Aww yea! Tank drivers bro! My grandpa was one in Desert Storm.

[Meryuma]

Toy weapons are fine and kinda unavoidable. I don't think toys should promote IRL military organizations tho - that sort of propagandizing to children makes me a bit uncomfortable.

[Reploid Productions]

Considering as a kid I had a herd of My Little Ponies waging an epic civil war complete with atrocities and war crimes (including genocide against the petite ponies, those filthy, cannibalistic midgets!) ... "war toys" are not necessarily the problem. Kids will be creative, and they can (and will if given half the chance) "weaponize" ANY toy you give them. Barbie doll? Headless Barbie bent 90 degrees at the waist, grip the legs = instant laser gun. Hook and ladder fire truck and sidewalk chalk = MISSILE TRUCK. Legos = ANY GODDAMN THING YOU CAN THINK OF. My mother did allow me to watch a lot of CNN during the first Gulf War though. Which is why the evil Imperial faction of ponies was using scud missiles on the rebels.

Point is, it's up to the parents to instill a sense of right and wrong. Don't want your crotchspawn glorifying war and violence? Teach them. Play pretend is one thing, it's up to the parents to teach the kid that what is okay in play pretend is not okay in the real world.

[USS Monitor]

I think it's fine for kids to play with military-themed toys, but you should talk to them about war and make sure they understand that it's not something to be taken lightly.

[The Two Jerseys]

Considering as a kid I had a herd of My Little Ponies waging an epic civil war complete with atrocities and war crimes (including genocide against the petite ponies, those filthy, cannibalistic midgets!) ... "war toys" are not necessarily the problem. Kids will be creative, and they can (and will if given half the chance) "weaponize" ANY toy you give them. Barbie doll? Headless Barbie bent 90 degrees at the waist, grip the legs = instant laser gun. Hook and ladder fire truck and sidewalk chalk = MISSILE TRUCK. Legos = ANY GODDAMN THING YOU CAN THINK OF. My mother did allow me to watch a lot of CNN during the first Gulf War though. Which is why the evil Imperial faction of ponies was using scud missiles on the rebels.

Point is, it's up to the parents to instill a sense of right and wrong. Don't want your crotchspawn glorifying war and violence? Teach them. Play pretend is one thing, it's up to the parents to teach the kid that what is okay in play pretend is not okay in the real world.

My Little Yugoslav Pony: Ethnic Cleansing is Magic

I'd totally watch it.

[Greed and Death]

Why not glamorize the greatest problem-solver Man ever invented?

Alexander the Great ?

[Narland]

Considering as a kid I had a herd of My Little Ponies waging an epic civil war complete with atrocities and war crimes (including genocide against the petite ponies, those filthy, cannibalistic midgets!) ... "war toys" are not necessarily the problem. Kids will be creative, and they can (and will if given half the chance) "weaponize" ANY toy you give them. Barbie doll? Headless Barbie bent 90 degrees at the waist, grip the legs = instant laser gun. Hook and ladder fire truck and sidewalk chalk = MISSILE TRUCK. Legos = ANY GODDAMN THING YOU CAN THINK OF. My mother did allow me to watch a lot of CNN during the first Gulf War though. Which is why the evil Imperial faction of ponies was using scud missiles on the rebels.

Point is, it's up to the parents to instill a sense of right and wrong. Don't want your crotchspawn glorifying war and violence? Teach them. Play pretend is one thing, it's up to the parents to teach the kid that what is okay in play pretend is not okay in the real world.

This one ^

Toys will be toys. Teach your children well, and won't matter what toys they have. My grandparents made sure I knew the difference between a toy (pop gun, cap gun) and a weapon (bb gun, pellet pistol, and my .17 lever action) before ever taking me out to the range, or letting me go hunting. A toy may be used as a tool, but a tool is never a toy. We even had to have training on how to use each and every tool.

[Kanaria]

Considering as a kid I had a herd of My Little Ponies waging an epic civil war complete with atrocities and war crimes (including genocide against the petite ponies, those filthy, cannibalistic midgets!) ... "war toys" are not necessarily the problem. Kids will be creative, and they can (and will if given half the chance) "weaponize" ANY toy you give them. Barbie doll? Headless Barbie bent 90 degrees at the waist, grip the legs = instant laser gun. Hook and ladder fire truck and sidewalk chalk = MISSILE TRUCK. Legos = ANY GODDAMN THING YOU CAN THINK OF. My mother did allow me to watch a lot of CNN during the first Gulf War though. Which is why the evil Imperial faction of ponies was using scud missiles on the rebels.

Point is, it's up to the parents to instill a sense of right and wrong. Don't want your crotchspawn glorifying war and violence? Teach them. Play pretend is one thing, it's up to the parents to teach the kid that what is okay in play pretend is not okay in the real world.

My Little Yugoslav Pony: Ethnic Cleansing is Magic

I'd totally watch it.

Agreed.

[The Paradimensional Ascendancy]

-

[Alvecia]

Considering as a kid I had a herd of My Little Ponies waging an epic civil war complete with atrocities and war crimes (including genocide against the petite ponies, those filthy, cannibalistic midgets!) ... "war toys" are not necessarily the problem. Kids will be creative, and they can (and will if given half the chance) "weaponize" ANY toy you give them. Barbie doll? Headless Barbie bent 90 degrees at the waist, grip the legs = instant laser gun. Hook and ladder fire truck and sidewalk chalk = MISSILE TRUCK. Legos = ANY GODDAMN THING YOU CAN THINK OF. My mother did allow me to watch a lot of CNN during the first Gulf War though. Which is why the evil Imperial faction of ponies was using scud missiles on the rebels.

Point is, it's up to the parents to instill a sense of right and wrong. Don't want your crotchspawn glorifying war and violence? Teach them. Play pretend is one thing, it's up to the parents to teach the kid that what is okay in play pretend is not okay in the real world.

You have a wonderfully creative mind. Army R&D would love you.

[Greater Ziegenian Reich]

plastic army men where the absolute shit when i was growing up. i would have massive wars between the freedom fighting green and the dirty tyrannical tan in my backyards and used firecrackers (is that what they are?) as explosions to represent artillery and grenades and the like.

absolutely good times that i wish i could go back to

[Black Mars]

If I have the option then I would raise my children with guns and martial arts. That said, I had the same upbringing and it didn't make me a violent killer.

[Qothia]

We should ban the use of sticks for children. Most of them use it as Swords or other weaponry and it clearly glamorizes medeival combat that is known for being real harsh /sarcasm

As many already have mentioned, people are creative. They will get around your ban somehow, imagination is a wonderous thing. For example, I have seen kids use Floorball clubs as weapons. If you don't know what that is, I'll show you:

War toys aren't the most biggest thing where I live, sure you can find your plastic bow and Nerf at the toy store because it's nerf or nothing.

[Gitoffmahlawn]

Nah, when I was growing up my friends and I were always coming up with new variations of war type games using anything we had from sticks to the aforementioned "war toys". Me personally I never had any lecturing or experience with real firearms until I was old enough to legally purchase them. Even before then I got all of my knowledge from research I did myself before I ever laid hands on my first purchase. I wanted to know everything about them especially from a safety aspect, and I did all of this of my own volition with no peer influence.

So no, I don't think they are bad at all. Regional situations and personal experiences may differ for a lot of children but the toys themselves are not the cause of "badness". If that were the case I'm sure my friends and I would've turned out to be a roving band of psychopathic desert wanderers, hueueheu.

[Summercity]

I guess they make children get used to violence that is not nice

[MERIZoC]

It seems NSG is turning out in full force with all their psychology degrees.

Is it really that hard for anyone to do research before going "NUH-UH!"

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/16/garden/toy-guns-do-they-fan-aggression.html

In the past 30 years, researchers have conducted about a dozen studies observing children's play with war toys and their subsequent behavior. Most of the studies define increased aggression in terms of incidents involving kicking, punching and insults.

The most frequently cited research was conducted in 1976 by Charles W. Turner and Diana Goldsmith, psychologists at the University of Utah. Children were observed playing with neutral toys like blocks and airplanes and then with toy guns. The researchers found that the children exhibited more physical and verbal aggression after playing with guns.

In 1985, Dr. Thomas Radecki, a psychiatrist and the executive director of the National Coalition on Television Violence, an advocacy group based in Illinois, studied 20 preschoolers. He compared the effects of playing with He-Man and Masters of the Universe figures, and playing with Cabbage Patch dolls.

Dr. Radecki said the incidence of antisocial and violent behavior doubled after the youngsters played with the violent-theme toys. ''The evidence is quite strong that we are transmitting an unhealthy message encouraging children to have fun pretending to murder each other,'' he said.

Brian Sutton-Smith, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in children's play, disagrees. Dr. Sutton-Smith discounts most studies as unreliable because they used small samples and subjective definitions of aggression.

''What many teachers observe as violent behavior is often really just playful aggression,'' he said. Such ''rough and tumble,'' he said, is often a healthy way for children, especially boys, to resolve competitiveness and form friendships.

Carole Lieberman, a psychologist and media consultant in California, argues that ''children are born with aggressive drives.''

''In a loving home, that becomes healthy aggressiveness: competition and ambition,'' she said. Without toy guns, she said, children would make their own versions, even using their fingers. But, she said, ''when exposed to realistic toy guns and realistic violent TV shows, this aggressive drive is exacerbated, and the child may actually grow up to be violent.''

Dr. Lee Salk, a professor of psychology, psychiatry and pediatrics at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, agreed, noting that the very nature of aggressive play has changed over the years. Children, he said, once played with ''little tin soldiers built around heroic elements in our history.'' By contrast, ''today, we have Rambo vigilantes who are not responsible to authority.'' ''The message of toy guns,'' Dr. Salk concluded, ''is that you solve problems by pulling a trigger.''

Stevanne Auerbach, a psychologist and the director of the San Francisco International Toy Museum at the Cannery, said she would ban all toy guns because children accustomed to playing with them have played with real weapons left out by adults, sometimes with tragic results.

While parents and researchers are vehement in their viewpoints, little evidence exists either to support a causal relationship between war toys and aggression or to discount one, said Dr. Helen Boehm, a psychologist and the author of ''The Right Toys,'' published in 1986 by Bantam Books. ''I don't like toy guns,'' said Dr. Boehm. ''But ultimately children don't learn values from toy guns and G.I. Joe. It's parents and other role models who have the most important influence on a child's behavior.''

I'm not making an argument either way, but come on.

[Alvecia]

It seems NSG is turning out in full force with all their psychology degrees.

Is it really that hard for anyone to do research before going "NUH-UH!"

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/16/garden/toy-guns-do-they-fan-aggression.html

In the past 30 years, researchers have conducted about a dozen studies observing children's play with war toys and their subsequent behavior. Most of the studies define increased aggression in terms of incidents involving kicking, punching and insults.

The most frequently cited research was conducted in 1976 by Charles W. Turner and Diana Goldsmith, psychologists at the University of Utah. Children were observed playing with neutral toys like blocks and airplanes and then with toy guns. The researchers found that the children exhibited more physical and verbal aggression after playing with guns.

In 1985, Dr. Thomas Radecki, a psychiatrist and the executive director of the National Coalition on Television Violence, an advocacy group based in Illinois, studied 20 preschoolers. He compared the effects of playing with He-Man and Masters of the Universe figures, and playing with Cabbage Patch dolls.

Dr. Radecki said the incidence of antisocial and violent behavior doubled after the youngsters played with the violent-theme toys. ''The evidence is quite strong that we are transmitting an unhealthy message encouraging children to have fun pretending to murder each other,'' he said.

Brian Sutton-Smith, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in children's play, disagrees. Dr. Sutton-Smith discounts most studies as unreliable because they used small samples and subjective definitions of aggression.

''What many teachers observe as violent behavior is often really just playful aggression,'' he said. Such ''rough and tumble,'' he said, is often a healthy way for children, especially boys, to resolve competitiveness and form friendships.

Carole Lieberman, a psychologist and media consultant in California, argues that ''children are born with aggressive drives.''

''In a loving home, that becomes healthy aggressiveness: competition and ambition,'' she said. Without toy guns, she said, children would make their own versions, even using their fingers. But, she said, ''when exposed to realistic toy guns and realistic violent TV shows, this aggressive drive is exacerbated, and the child may actually grow up to be violent.''

Dr. Lee Salk, a professor of psychology, psychiatry and pediatrics at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, agreed, noting that the very nature of aggressive play has changed over the years. Children, he said, once played with ''little tin soldiers built around heroic elements in our history.'' By contrast, ''today, we have Rambo vigilantes who are not responsible to authority.'' ''The message of toy guns,'' Dr. Salk concluded, ''is that you solve problems by pulling a trigger.''

Stevanne Auerbach, a psychologist and the director of the San Francisco International Toy Museum at the Cannery, said she would ban all toy guns because children accustomed to playing with them have played with real weapons left out by adults, sometimes with tragic results.

While parents and researchers are vehement in their viewpoints, little evidence exists either to support a causal relationship between war toys and aggression or to discount one, said Dr. Helen Boehm, a psychologist and the author of ''The Right Toys,'' published in 1986 by Bantam Books. ''I don't like toy guns,'' said Dr. Boehm. ''But ultimately children don't learn values from toy guns and G.I. Joe. It's parents and other role models who have the most important influence on a child's behavior.''

I'm not making an argument either way, but come on.

Seems like the jury is still out on this one.

[Gitoffmahlawn]

It seems NSG is turning out in full force with all their psychology degrees.

Is it really that hard for anyone to do research before going "NUH-UH!"

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/16/garden/toy-guns-do-they-fan-aggression.html

In the past 30 years, researchers have conducted about a dozen studies observing children's play with war toys and their subsequent behavior. Most of the studies define increased aggression in terms of incidents involving kicking, punching and insults.

The most frequently cited research was conducted in 1976 by Charles W. Turner and Diana Goldsmith, psychologists at the University of Utah. Children were observed playing with neutral toys like blocks and airplanes and then with toy guns. The researchers found that the children exhibited more physical and verbal aggression after playing with guns.

In 1985, Dr. Thomas Radecki, a psychiatrist and the executive director of the National Coalition on Television Violence, an advocacy group based in Illinois, studied 20 preschoolers. He compared the effects of playing with He-Man and Masters of the Universe figures, and playing with Cabbage Patch dolls.

Dr. Radecki said the incidence of antisocial and violent behavior doubled after the youngsters played with the violent-theme toys. ''The evidence is quite strong that we are transmitting an unhealthy message encouraging children to have fun pretending to murder each other,'' he said.

Brian Sutton-Smith, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in children's play, disagrees. Dr. Sutton-Smith discounts most studies as unreliable because they used small samples and subjective definitions of aggression.

''What many teachers observe as violent behavior is often really just playful aggression,'' he said. Such ''rough and tumble,'' he said, is often a healthy way for children, especially boys, to resolve competitiveness and form friendships.

Carole Lieberman, a psychologist and media consultant in California, argues that ''children are born with aggressive drives.''

''In a loving home, that becomes healthy aggressiveness: competition and ambition,'' she said. Without toy guns, she said, children would make their own versions, even using their fingers. But, she said, ''when exposed to realistic toy guns and realistic violent TV shows, this aggressive drive is exacerbated, and the child may actually grow up to be violent.''

Dr. Lee Salk, a professor of psychology, psychiatry and pediatrics at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, agreed, noting that the very nature of aggressive play has changed over the years. Children, he said, once played with ''little tin soldiers built around heroic elements in our history.'' By contrast, ''today, we have Rambo vigilantes who are not responsible to authority.'' ''The message of toy guns,'' Dr. Salk concluded, ''is that you solve problems by pulling a trigger.''

Stevanne Auerbach, a psychologist and the director of the San Francisco International Toy Museum at the Cannery, said she would ban all toy guns because children accustomed to playing with them have played with real weapons left out by adults, sometimes with tragic results.

While parents and researchers are vehement in their viewpoints, little evidence exists either to support a causal relationship between war toys and aggression or to discount one, said Dr. Helen Boehm, a psychologist and the author of ''The Right Toys,'' published in 1986 by Bantam Books. ''I don't like toy guns,'' said Dr. Boehm. ''But ultimately children don't learn values from toy guns and G.I. Joe. It's parents and other role models who have the most important influence on a child's behavior.''

I'm not making an argument either way, but come on.

Indeed, like I had said myself it's about regional situation for each individual child. Children are easily disposed to aggression anyway, some more pronounced than others. In the end, the environment of a child is the deciding factor usually.

[The Intergalactic Universe Corporation]

I think war toys are not the ones that glamorise violence, but it is more of Hollywood's fault more making movies so violent, and that is what causes the problem.