Do certain children's toys create social, emotional or other problems?

[Doc Tinker]

Do you think some toys are bad for kids?



They say playing video games, like Doom is harmfull.



How about toy guns?



Doc

 

[EMDDIESEL]

They sell paintball guns in the gun store i work at occasionally, whats weird is in the gun side of the store, the golden rule is "Never point a gun at anything you dont intend to shoot" meanwhile, in the paintball department its "Point the gun at people and shoot". It just seems odd that we will give a safety lesson to a kid about how to safely handle a firearm (Which includes NOT pointing it at people) and 5 minutes later he wants to buy a paintball gun to shoot his friends with. Alot of prents dont like the idea of it.

 

[Dkevdog]

When I was a kid and growing up, well actually I haven't grown up yet- I just got bigger, anyway. We had toy guns that were so real you could hardly tell them apart fromt he real thing. We used to play war games and all that. Of course, we understood the difference between real and pretend. I think the problem isn't as much the toys as is the horrible reality of what is going on around us. TV and Hollywood has gotten much more violent and realistic- making it harder to draw the distinction between real and make believe. It's a sad state of affair that is only getting worse.



Kev

 

[DarrellB]

Yes they can

When I was young (OK I still do) I used to do nothing but sit outside in the sand pile all day and play with toy trucks and tractors.



Now look what I'm doing.



Any spare time I have I spend it playing with my truck, going to diesel truck related events, or out playing on my 2 ATVs.



I guess my mom is right.



I never really did grow up, I just got taller. Oo. Oo.



Darrell

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Heck, when I was a kid my grandfather would take the firing pin out of his German Luger and let me play with that!!! Outside even! When I think back to that it's a miracle I wasn't shot by someone.



I think it depends on the particular child and the parents and how that kid was raised. Also, when they are exposed to what. Doom is a great example, if you had a kid that grew up with no boundaries set by his or her parents it could probably cause problems. Or if that kid was say 5 years old and couldn't tell fantasy from reality yet. As with all things - it depends, but in some cases I'd say yes.



-Steve

 

[mikel]

I believe that it is mostly a factor of the quality of the parents. My two brothers and I grew up playing cowboys and indians, war, and any other aggressive/fighting game you can imagine. We didn't turn out homicidal or anti-social. Why? Because our parents raised us to know the difference between playing with toys and actually hurting someone.



I think too many parents today just want to take a passive role in the raising of their children. They let them run around line banshees in restraunts, they knock shelves over at stores like wal-mart and aren't made to pick up whatever they knock over.



These kids never learn any responsibility for their actions because mom and dad don't teach them any.



Example:



About two or three years ago the church in my inlaws home town spent some money getting new flowers planted around the church property. Less than one month later some neighborhood kids came by and kicked/stepped on a bunch of the new plants. My first question is why do kids do stuff like this *IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD*? No chance that someone will know who they are if they stay close to home...



Anyhow someone saw them and knew who they were so they informed the church. The father at the church contacted the kids parents and told them that he wanted the parents to purchase replacement plants and send the kids over on a saturday to re-plant what they had destroyed. Not one of the parents would agree to this. They all wanted to just pay someone to re-plant everything.



What kind of lesson does this teach these kids? In my mind it teaches them that they do not have to be responsible for their actions because mommy and daddy will pay to fix whatever gets screwed up.



People who blame toys of any kind for the way a child turned out have failed as parents and are looking for a cop-out.



Sorry this got long but this is one of those things like the terrible killer guns thing that just winds me up.



Mike

 

[The patriot]

MikeL, I agree with you 100%, and most others here.

I too grew up playing all the games that kids of that time played.

I had my own shotgun by the time I was 7 or 8. About the same time my little brother (by 18 months) and I got into motorcycles. Shortly after we had minibikes.



Eric

 

[Whitmore]

OH NO

I must have played with a Barbie doll once upon a time because I sure have a fettish for my woman

 

[EMDDIESEL]

As long as it was'nt a Ken doll, you will turn out fine.

 

[JSmith]

Toy many kids do not have to play with, a DAD. :{ :{

 

[TxDieselKid]

Originally posted by JSmith

Toy many kids do not have to play with, a DAD. :{ :{

I know that feeling!



Andrew

 

[Dkevdog]

The parents can only do so much, and I for one get a bit tired of everyone blaming the parents. Yes, there are many examples of how the parents leave their children to their own devices and let them entertain themselves with TV, Drugs, Crime... ... But the coin has two sides.



My inlaws being a perfect example. They raised their daughter (my wife) and their son with identical standards, morals , love , support, and everything they could desire. My wife is a fun loving spirited individual who is always going out of her way to be kind. Her brother... . well, he became an evil criminal, stealing and hurting people until the drugs caught up with him and killed him. My inlaws even went out of their way to try and turn things around for him, spending thousands trying to help him and giving him new opportunity.



Point is- you can't fix a bad apple. He was rotten to the core and it had NOTHING to do with his parents. Think about that the next time.



Kev

 

[mikel]

Originally posted by Dkevdog

The parents can only do so much, and I for one get a bit tired of everyone blaming the parents. Yes, there are many examples of how the parents leave their children to their own devices and let them entertain themselves with TV, Drugs, Crime... ... But the coin has two sides.

Kev

Fair enough, I can admit that I should have been sensitive to the small percentage of parents that do an outstanding job and still wind up with an out-of-control child and if I have offended you then I apologize as that was not my intention. That being said, I hope we can both agree that much of what is being blamed on violent movies, toy guns, etc. these days is realy just a manifestation of the child having inadequate guidance from his/her parents. I also believe that (from your example) your in-laws wouldn't claim that the television or some toy guns were the cause of their sons' problems.



So often these days it's people looking for an excuse for whatever happens in their lives. In this thread it's toy guns, but in other examples it's 'society' or whatever happens to be the flavor of the month.



It just seems nobody takes any responsibility for themselves any more.



Peace,

Mike

 

[Dkevdog]

Originally posted by mikel





..... I hope we can both agree that much of what is being blamed on violent movies, toy guns, etc. these days is realy just a manifestation of the child having inadequate guidance from his/her parents.

Mike- no offense taken. Sometimes I get a heated up on the subject. It was a very difficult thing to watch, kinda like nursing cancer. There's no chance, but always hope. And yes I can whole heartedly agree that mom and dad need to spend more time raising thier kids rather than blame a ransid society for turning junior sour. Maybe some day the wolrd will have enough- and go back to the basics once again.



Kev

 

[Todd T]

this past Tuesday i was forced to watch a little boy throw a naked Barbie around the swimming pool... ... ... ... . I will never be the same

 

[JSmith]

Kev no hurt intended.



Kids are better off with a parent than not.



The parents can only do thier best.

How the kid turns out is not guarenteed.



You can lead a horse to water but you can`t make him drink.

I used to own a ford diesel.