Official statement:
The Toy Industry Association (TIA) and its members are proud of the important, life-shaping role that toys, games and play have in the development and growth of children. Toys themselves do not promote aggressive behavior. As Jeffrey Goldstein, Ph.D., author and professor of Media and Communication at the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands, has said: “There are no ‘violent’ or ‘nonviolent’ toys. There are simply toys, many fashioned after objects found in the adult world, and others inspired by fantasy objects found nowhere else.” Quite often, military and other role-play items may help kids work through or cope with what is happening in the world around them through play rather than through outwardly aggressive behavior . . .
Toys that foster friendly competition promote active bodies, active minds and healthy lifestyles. They keep kids moving, allow them to role-play (cops, superheroes, etc.), encourage teamwork and/or strategic thinking, empower both genders, allow them to work through their emotions, and help them to forge their own identities and develop moral values. The toy industry makes it a priority to ensure the safety and well-being of kids while bringing joy to their lives.
Some groups, however, have tried to establish a direct, causal connection between societal violence and specific types of toys. These attacks are often emotional and not based on sound science or research.
According to Goldstein, “(Toys) give form to behavior by stimulating play, but they do not motivate aggressive behavior. Toys are the intermediary between the child and the world in which he/she lives. The family environment – far more than the toy itself – is the decisive factor in a child’s character. How a parent behaves toward a child has much more influence than a toy.”
This statement was originally published in September 2012 and reaffirmed by the Toy Industry Association in October 2015.
Toys, video games and guns do not lead to violence. Assholes with an agenda lead to violence.
Terrorist are motivated by religious and political views, Criminals are motivated by money and/or drugs, Psycho’s/The Mentally ill are motivated by whatever the voices in their head say, Psychotropic drugs, Revenge, Power over their perceived oppressors, Pink Dinosaurs, Aliens, Big foot and repressed sexual feelings. 😛
A toy is a toy, And my son has plenty of such evil guns, He knows better than to touch any real guns or other more dangerous guns like pellet guns, He was properly educated in what a gun does, He was told from an early age what a gun is capable of doing and I demonstrated this by shooting some pest birds in my back yard.
I was raised on violent video games such as Mortal Kombat, Doom, Quake, etc. and while it made me more interested in firearms, It never made me violent in anyway, We often played war with anything from water guns, to these ping pong ball shooting guns…
Some people are inherently violent and they are more prone to violence since they have been abused from an early age. IMO.
+1
They honestly believe that if a child is never exposed to an evil ‘gun’ in their youth they will never desire one.
Funny thing about Homo Sapiens tho, we’re hard-wired to create tools. Be it a rock or an AR, once we can conceptualize what a tool is, what it can be used for, we will want that tool.
So, wait… toys don’t dictate how they’re played with, but you can decide your own actions? We have to choose how to use inanimate objects like toys and tools? Wow. I sold most of my guns when I heard they were bad, then tossed the rest in the river. I guess I could have just chosen to use them safely and responsibly! I feel like a fool.
Do not feel like a fool, Scooter.
What river was that now?
Translation: “They’re toys, you libtarded fvckheads. TOYS! So STFU.”
Truth. Where’s the “common sense” parental controls and parent liscences? You know, for the children
Humans are genetically agressive by nature. Manors, empathy, and morals are all learned behavior.
This can be understood by simply watching a group of toddlers. They will steal, fight, bite, scream, cry, kick, and bludgeon. And, they will do it all without feeling the least bit sorry about it.
So true. Every time I hear the phrase, “Innocent as a newborn child” I laugh.
Thank you Joel! Every time I hear that I say, “No, children are horrible, screaming, vicious, little poop factories until they are TAUGHT to be civil.”
The dreaded childs play loophole.
Assault play!
Quick….someone ban playtime!
Whew! That was close, for the children!
Is that edit proof/safe there ttag or are you going to delete this one too?
When I was growing up, I had this (crazy) aunt who had 3 boys. She did everything in her power to keep them from possessing toy weapons or anything that might even resemble a weapon. When my cousins inevitably turned to fashioning swords out of sticks or cardboard tubes, sure as Sunday she would pitch a fit the likes of which most of you have never seen (remember, crazy). In adulthood one of those cousins is a quasi-pacifist, one is into guns at a level of interest similar to my own, and the third is more than prepared to arm his community should a full out zombie apocalypse occur.
Much like firearms themselves, toys are simply objects devoid of inherent moral value. People are naturally resourceful and innovative: They will find a way to act out their plans, even as children, regardless of the efforts of others to substantially control their behavior.
Funny but when I was a lad MY family had 3 boys and we all played with toy guns and shot real ones with my dad. This was 50 and more years ago. I am now something of a gun guy,another brother hunts and has a gun and my oldest brother is a flaming leftie who is afeared of guns and boo-lits…but none of us has shot/killed anyone or been in prison. And most of the neighborhood kids had similar upbringing. We played war and secret agent(hardly ever cowboys/indians). Maybe being raised right in a stable 2 parent home might have something to do with it(by no means was every kid going to church or had great parents either). Just 2 parents …
Growing up we had snap cap toy guns and home made rubber band guns. Never put an eye out but they did sting hitting a bare arm or leg. As adults, 3 out of 4, confirmed responsible gun owners. The 4th. one got in snit years ago and does not talk to us anymore, have no idea if armed or not. His loss, not ours.
Well my brother DID get poked in the eye with a Zorro sword…does that count?Had to go to the emergency room. Oh- and this same brother shot me in the face with a 22blank from a revolver-never told my dad-thank you Jesus I wasn’t blinded or brain damaged(or was I?)…
I played lawn dart chicken as a kid. Lawn darts I say.
“Contempt” is not a strong enough word for what I feel towards these morons. They are LITERALLY snatching TOYS away from CHILDREN. I hope Santa fills their stockings with actual BS, to match the social justice BS these limp wristed twits are poisoning their kids with.
I have a 7 (and a half) year old son. He has been going to a rifle range with Dad since he was 3. He teaches other children the range safety protocols and the other kids LISTEN because it comes from someone their own age. Their parents are very impressed.
My son often sits behind me and acts as my spotter. After our Champion-Of-Champions match, he helps patch out the targets and even helped carry some back to the target shed. He is now learning how to score for people during application stages (individual shots on the 4-foot target). My son attends the range more often than many of the members, and we even add his name to the attendance sheet marked with a non-shooting attendance. Because he’s been going to the range and talks with adults, his speech is several years ahead of his peers. And he is regarded as one of the team.
My son started playing FPS games on the PC about 18 months ago. He tried to play the game while I went to the kitchen. I thought it was best to teach him how to move and explore the maps (without opposition). The game was Call of Duty Black Ops II, multi-player botmatch (no human opposition). After an afternoon of shooting out windows and blowing up cars, he asked for something more challenging. So I added 2 bots on his side and 2 more on the enemy side. As he got better he asked for more bots. Now he plays with 5 on his side and 6 on the enemy side. He also experiments with the different guns and accessories, and we discuss the pluses and minuses of each.
He is using mouse and keyboard controls, and uses my standard controls.
6 months ago he asked if there was a way we could play the games together. So I dug up two old PCs, set them up on a private non-internet LAN, and we explored various games. Unreal Tournament classic, Day Of Defeat (Half-Life mod), and Battlefield 1942 are the games we have settled on.
The fun part is he really likes working with Dad as a team, and the PC removes the physical ability between us. The games are also improving his hand-to-eye co-ordination, situational awareness, and he has had to learn map reading and navigation (especially in BF1942). And he is also learning a lot of PC operations and practical networking And Dad has a great time with his son.
Is this irresponsible? Not in my opinion. All this is supervised and we discuss equipment, techniques, and tactics. He can now identify by sight a number of WW2 aircraft, tanks, and firearms. I think the positive skills he are helping his learning and development. He is even asking about what rifles I have (thanks to DoD) and why can’t I own other types of gun (in his words, light machine guns and assault rifles). He thinks it’s unfair I can’t own and use them any more.
I never thought being a dad would be so much fun.
Sounds alright to me. My daughter plays blackops against bots with me. She enjoys hunting, but not too much for shooting yet.
My kids whip my target laden butt every time I try playing this FPS’s.
OFWG club membership application anyone??
There is an eight year old girl who regularly kicks butt in my club’s 600 yard matches. She is not tall enough to score targets in the pit.
If playing with a Super Soaker pushes your kid over the edge, then he was standing too close to begin with and you didn’t do your job as a parent.
Like most folks my age, toy guns were equally common as real guns but surprisingly less ‘public’ then they are now. We didn’t all turn out to lethal sociopaths. Might be interesting to go through a yearbook and see the ratio of who did…
Anyway, I’d like people to start researching all these crazy medications and any relationship to gun crimes.
Awesome post.
As a kid we played gi joe shooting at each other with our toy guns. Sword with sticks and clubs , rock wars. We wrestled and fist fought for fun. We had nothing worse busted knuckles split lips black eyes. Some how non of us went on shooting rampages . ACTING out violence teaches you there are real consequence when you harmed another human and to respect violence and that it has a time and place.
As much as I love my guns,they are not toys and toys are not covered by the 2nd amendment.I personally think that making toys that look like real guns is stupid,look at all the people,children and adults alike that have been shot by the cops on account of them,I don’t think video games are a problem in that respect but if you point a toy gun at anyone that is armed,they might shoot you.