Would you let your child play this?

CleoKitty

I'm sure there are some people who will be horrified by this, but here goes:

Ds has Nerf dart guns. He knows that they're toys, that you don't shoot people, and that real guns are deadly & dangerous. 

He also has a big basket of those Schleich animal figurines. 

Right now he and his buddy have all of the animals lined up in a row across the living room and they are shooting them with foam darts until they fall over. They're "hunting." (FWIW, we don't know a single person that hunts IRL.) 

When I expressed some concern about why they were playing so violently and asked why they were killing the animals ds rolled his eyes and said, "So we can eat their meat and hang them on the wall!" (FWIW, we don't know a single person IRL who has deer, bear, or other animals mounted on their living room walls either, LOL.) He got the idea from a "Little House on the Prairie" book that I've been reading to him. 

If your child was play hunting would you stop them or allow it? WDYT? 

(Once I realized he was just being Pa Ingalls and not acting out some crazy killing spree fantasy I just let them keep playing. When I was little I used to want to churn butter, make corncob dolls and wear prairie style dresses- I guess he's just taking his pioneer fascination in a different direction. ;-)

kevschickee2

I don't allow any kind of weapon play in our home so no I wouldn't let them play that BUT that is just me

AnnapolisLari

I have bigger thing to worry about than a perfectly normal kid playing with pretend guns. You know what prompted it, and it's not some friend's parent who is building a Doomsday arsenal in their basement.

If you took away the Nerf guns, he would use a stick.

I was a Little House butter-churnin' gal myself. :-)

 

veloelle

I would let him. He seems pretty mature and gets the concept he's not out to kills his neighbors. DD has a Star Wars nerf gun that we let her use.

Honestly, kids imaginations astound me-good and bad, lol. DD and I were building a Lego zoo before daycare today, and suddenly the zoo keeper, brick delivery man and random lego woman were in this love triangle. The zoo keeper and brick man were married, then the brink man was going to marry the random lego woman. I was like, ah, no, that's not nice to play. Where does she learn this??  I don't watch dramatic shows or soaps w/ her!! 

gracendantho26

I might live in the twilight zone but that's how all of DS and his guy friends play. When we go to playdates the moms don't even bat an eye at it.

joseysbride

I'm fine with that.  I think it's great to hear that he thinks that hunting is about eating the meat, not just randomly killing animals.  I grew up in a family with hunters (in fact, my dad owns a butcher shop), my dh and his family are a hunters...we were always taught that guns are not toys and we hunt for food not the fun of killing.  I don't see a problem with nerf guns, but I am against any type of toy gun that is supposed to look real.

We will require our kids to take hunters safety (even if they don't want to use a gun) and if they are interested in hunting, I'm cool with that.

MrsStubbs

My husband hunts alot so it does not bother me. DD knows what real guns are and what to do is she sees one.

You can bet I got my 3yo nephew a nerf gun for his birthday and he also got western guns to go with his cowboy outfit.

 

summerbrideDC

We dont' have toy guns so it wouldn't look like that per se, but if Ethan picked up a stick or some thing like that and started doing that, I don't think I'd have a problem with it, in the scenario you are describing. It's hard to disparage Pa Ingalls. 

penguingrrl

That's a tough one.  On the one hand, I'm really really anti-violence in any form.  On the other side, I'm not kidding when I say that Little House on the Prairie inspired me to become a historian as an adult, so it's really cute that he's playing Pa Ingalls.  I would probably chalk it up to boy play, kind of like when in the absence of guns (my mother was also strict about that) my brother used my barbie dolls as guns.

Alexandra*sMom

We don't have any type of guns in our house (girls really don't care about that!) - but I'd allow it.  My girls know Daddy shot a deer and so does their uncle.

Rebekah1021

It wouldn't bother me. My nephews weren't allowed to play guns and they turns sticks into guns for cops and robbers. They now have nerf guns.

I'll admit that DD has a nerf gun that DH got her and they have a blast playing with it (while she's in her princess dress).

 

DevonPow

While I am very anti-gun/toy gun/gun play (I was raised not being allowed to have any toy guns and that is how we will raise DS), I do understand that most kids will participate in gun play in some way - using sticks or whatever. I feel like I won't try to stop that type of play unless it seems IMO to be over-the top/overly violent, etc.

That said, I would stop the animal killing game. But, I know I am probably overly prudish in that respect so I certainly don't think ill of anyone who thinks it is no big deal. We are trying very hard to instill respect of all living things, and a mentality of not harming any living things, so this one would bother me a lot. I am also very anti-hunting in general, though. I am even anti-fishing. I am a little nutty on it.

By the way, my in laws are big game hunters (think  elephants, leopards, etc) and their house is like a natural history museum and homage to guns all in one. It will be VERY interesting to balance teaching DS our beliefs on guns/hunting and not alienating the in-laws. I am not looking forward to it.

pincushions

gracendantho26:

I might live in the twilight zone but that's how all of DS and his guy friends play. When we go to playdates the moms don't even bat an eye at it.

This!

CleoKitty

Devon- I'm just curious: Are you vegetarian?

DevonPow

CleoKitty:

Devon- I'm just curious: Are you vegetarian?

No. I used to be when I was a teenager. I do know it is totally hypocrital the way I feel about animals and still being a meat eater;.  I do only eat free range meat, though, and we eat vegetarian about 70% of the time.

CMF1031

Yes, I would be okay with that.  We had a strict "no weapons" policy at the preschool where I used to teach (not allowed to bring in violent toys from home/no guys with weapons, couldn't even pretend to make a gun with your fingers, etc.) and trust me, the boys (and some girls) would always find a way to play gun games.

rebs

With what you described I would be fine with it.  FWIW I have always been antigun/hunting but my DH is a hunter.  I have realized he had WAY more respect for guns then most people.  He cannot watch cop shows (like Law and Order) where they have guns b/c he is so bothered by people running around with guns.

Ahhh, how I do miss Little House on the Prairie!  I always used to want to be Laura!

praline

Yes, totally.  Don't think it would even phase me.

Temp108743750006959

I'd pay attention to it, but I wouldn't stop it.

femmegem

I agree with many PPs. It would really bother me if they were just randomly pretending to shoot animals. But in the case of pretending to hunt for their food based on a story you've been reading, it would be fine.

Mrs Manners

I would be totally fine with it. I think there's no problem with kids understanding that it's ok to hunt and eat meat. I think our food system has become so industrialized and removed from our thoughts that people don't even think about how an animal lived and died for their food. I'd much rather my child think about humanely killing a free range deer than have him think it's ok to eat stuff from a feed lot that's been pumped full of antibiotics, hormones, never seen pasture and then pumped full of amonia to kill the e coli before it hits store shelves.

kertybird

yep, I don't have a problem with it.  I think it is just a nature vs. nurture, boys love that kinda stuff!  As long as they know to treat animals with respect and have no other psychological problems I just think it is creative play.