Pretend finger gun on playground

[Anonymous]

I have multiple children. This kind of stuff happens all of the time at our house (one kid wanting to play a game that another kid doesn’t like). When kids are older I tell them to walk away, but at 3 & 4, the easiest thing to do is to change the game.
I always think of them as being kind of stuck on one neural pathway and doing the same thing over and over again. So you just have to activate a different part of their brains (tell a joke, do a magic trick, give a snack, do some jumping jacks, whatever), and then they can move on to play something else.

I don’t think you need to have a big conversation about it hours later. A kid wanted to play chase. He thought the game was too aggressive. You left. It’s over.

[Anonymous]

As foreigners coming from countries where gun control is very strict, we don't have such a visceral reaction to gun pretend play, so I can see why the origin of the child would matter. I don't see why this little boy's behavior is a problem. It's really not. It's the adults in the USA who are making it into a problem.

My father bought play handguns for my kids in our home country, and I had to tell the kids to NEVER take them outside here, otherwise they could get into trouble with the neighbors... or worse, get shot by police! It's actually happened in this country with a 12 year old boy. Adults are crazy. They need to vote for gun control, not restrict children's inoffensive outlets for natural aggression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m admittedly a total lunatic when it comes to gun play. I’ve flat out told random kids on the playground (grantee, older than 2) not to point toy or pretend guns at my children and have left playgrounds when the gun play dominated. My young kids know how I feel about even pretend guns and the reasons for it. I think start by educating your own young child and giving him words to respond when others try to initiate gun play.

That's silly.

Read this: https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/07/should-you-let-your-kids-play-with-toy-guns-yes-but-keep-them-away-from-real-ones.html
Or this: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/keeping-kids-from-toy-guns-how-one-mother-changed-her-mind/278518/

Or one of the billion other articles explaining that there is zero link between kids playing with toy guns and real-life violence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
As foreigners coming from countries where gun control is very strict, we don't have such a visceral reaction to gun pretend play, so I can see why the origin of the child would matter. I don't see why this little boy's behavior is a problem. It's really not. It's the adults in the USA who are making it into a problem.

My father bought play handguns for my kids in our home country, and I had to tell the kids to NEVER take them outside here, otherwise they could get into trouble with the neighbors... or worse, get shot by police! It's actually happened in this country with a 12 year old boy. Adults are crazy. They need to vote for gun control, not restrict children's inoffensive outlets for natural aggression.

I love this post.

[Anonymous]

Wtf does a two year old know about guns. If an adult did that to you, you’d be scared too. It’s effed up. People get arrested for threats on adults’ lives mimicking shooting them. I know of at least one incident where a cyclist was stopped beside a car at a light and the driver looked over and mimicked shooting him. Tell me that’s ok and then tell me you think a toddler should be doing this. A freaking baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wtf does a two year old know about guns. If an adult did that to you, you’d be scared too. It’s effed up. People get arrested for threats on adults’ lives mimicking shooting them. I know of at least one incident where a cyclist was stopped beside a car at a light and the driver looked over and mimicked shooting him. Tell me that’s ok and then tell me you think a toddler should be doing this. A freaking baby.

PP here if two kids consensually are playing this then it’s fine. But for a child to go around “shooting” people he doesn’t know is a massive failure of parenting unless that child was corrected.

[Anonymous]

There was a boy at my son’s preschool who would form blocks into guns and point them at parents and other kids at school. The teachers tried to monitor it, but it’s impossible to control everything a kid does with toys (or even with his hands) at every moment in time. I don’t love gun play, but I also realize I can’t control how other kids behave.

So I prioritize teaching my kids what is important. That guns are not toys and they can hurt people. I have heard my 4 y/o tell his school friend that guns aren’t nice and to stop (of course he’ll also wrestle his brother over a toy so he’s not completely docile). But overall, I want my kids to know guns aren’t toys and that if they see one that isn’t just a water gun or something like that, DO NOT touch it.

Also, if they don’t like what someone is doing to/at them, they can say stop or no.

[Anonymous]

My kid got in trouble last year for doing this in Kindergarten (FCPS).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wtf does a two year old know about guns. If an adult did that to you, you’d be scared too. It’s effed up. People get arrested for threats on adults’ lives mimicking shooting them. I know of at least one incident where a cyclist was stopped beside a car at a light and the driver looked over and mimicked shooting him. Tell me that’s ok and then tell me you think a toddler should be doing this. A freaking baby.

I think the better question is how does OP’s four year old know about guns? If you aren’t imagining a real gun, that finger gesture is not in any way scary. So what’s up? Why is this small child so terrified of guns that a gesture from a baby has him hiding behind his mom?

[Anonymous]

OH COME ON

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A little kid ( about 2-3 year old) pretend his finger was a gun on both hands & do "bang" sound chasing after my almost 4 year old on the public playground. My son was scared of the little boy, not sure if it was finger gun part or chasing/running after him part or both. He kept whining, running to hide behind me a few times but he still wanted to play hide & seek with him. I have never exposed anything relating to "gun" to my son & I think he got confused why the little boy kept finger bang him in his face, and that's not how hide & seek or how tag game play.

...And on the way home, he kept saying that the little boy hurt him.

OP there must be more to this story. Can you describe what you saw a little better? Not the speculation about guns, just what you saw and heard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wtf does a two year old know about guns. If an adult did that to you, you’d be scared too. It’s effed up. People get arrested for threats on adults’ lives mimicking shooting them. I know of at least one incident where a cyclist was stopped beside a car at a light and the driver looked over and mimicked shooting him. Tell me that’s ok and then tell me you think a toddler should be doing this. A freaking baby.

I think the better question is how does OP’s four year old know about guns? If you aren’t imagining a real gun, that finger gesture is not in any way scary. So what’s up? Why is this small child so terrified of guns that a gesture from a baby has him hiding behind his mom?

I disagree. When my daughter was about this age, a similar aged child ran up on her and started doing this. She was also a little freaked out and ran away upset. I'm not sure she even knew what a gun was yet. It's the bodily communication whether or not he's aware of the specifics.

[Anonymous]

I would urge you to remove the phrase "finger bang" from your vocabulary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're coming off another weekend of multiple mass shootings with people losing their lives. You might not have reacted the same as OP, but how about a little empathy here? OP saw a young kid pretending to shoot at his/her kid. That's not great, and with the context of what is going on in the world, OP's reaction isn't over the top.

Just try empathy.

I guarantee you that the 2 or 3 yr old pointing HIS FINGER at her 4 yr old, has no concept of the permanence of death, and probably didn't even know about the shootings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would urge you to remove the phrase "finger bang" from your vocabulary.

I prefer to use it in my daily life.