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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Boys somehow find ways to turn everything into a weapon. Even if you prohibit toy guns or water guns, a stick will become a toy gun.  Or he'll make one out of Legos as my DS does.

Like many things when it comes to parenting, my perspective has changed on this over the years.  At first I was uneasy about it and tried to discourage it - mostly because there is such a stigma attached to that kind of play now. I personally don't have a huge problem with it because I don't believe that playing toy guns is itself a "gateway" activity for violence later on in life, especially if you take the time to educate your kids about the different between play and real life.  Whether it's a gun, knife, sword or some other type of "weapon," it's important to talk to kids about how and when it's ok to play those things.

We don't buy toy weapons for the kids.  They will occasionally make weapons using Legos or other materials, but we don't buy toy versions of weapons. The only type of toy guns we have at home are water guns, which these days don't even really resemble guns. They are really colorful and look like giant tanks that blast water.

My DS is 7.5 and is much better at understanding the nuances of play. He understands you can do certain things at home that you can't at school - so while it's fine to play water guns at home with his sister, playing any kind of pretend guns at school isn't ok.  He knows not to point anything resembling a gun - even if it's just his fingers - at someone's face or head.  He knows not to say "I'll kill you!" or threaten to shoot people.  He knows it's not ok to pretend to shoot someone while angry.  But all of this has come about over the past couple of years as we've guided him on what's acceptable and what's not when it comes to playing.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you are a parent are comfortable with. For me, this was not an issue I felt strongly enough to forbid.

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Your post was very helpful, thank you!
-OP[/quote]

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