One day I returned from my office slightly before time. When I entered my home I heard lot of noise of children screaming and shouting at each other. I thought as if a battle was going on between two warring groups. I was upset, but when I saw my wife standing at the door and smiling I had a sigh of relief. Realizing my state of mind she said, “Don’t worry. The children are playing.” I entered the room and saw a scene of a battlefield. The children ( two our own and probably three from the neighbors) were carrying toy guns and were playing hide and seek ( rather seek and kill ) game. The battle casualties were also being depicted by red color spilled on the clothes. An immediate cease-fire occurred as soon as they saw me. But soon, the winners of the game started celebrating their victory by shouting at the top of their voices.
While relaxing on my bed, I thought about the game and the enthusiasm showed by the children in the game of violence. It was disgusting to think what impact the game would create on psychology of our children? A child who opens his eyes in this world and sees the rattle and fire of guns around him would certainly shape his personality on the same lines. He would consider the warriors and the killers as heroes and would try to copy them. The spilling of blood and killings will not be so unusual phenomena for him. With the passage of time the habit of firing the weapons and killing the opponents (and also being killed in the process) will become so deep routed in his psyche that he will not enjoy playing rather “ peaceful” games. When the children with such a mindset will grow up, how would they be running the affairs of the society? The words like peace, tranquility, calm, tolerance, sacrifice, prudence etc will be alien to them. Obviously the dream of a peaceful world will remain elusive.
If we are desirous of not having such an unfavorable environment in the world for our next generations, then we may have to take a little bit of initiative. Please replace all weapon-toys with common toys of social and peaceful co-existence. Before we embark upon making our planet free of destructive weapons, let us free our children from the spell of toys like guns, tanks, bomber aircraft and the explosives. Let us not portray the ‘Spider man’, the ‘Predators’ and the ‘Terminators’ as heroes of our children. Rather they should be encouraged to follow the footsteps of great personalities like Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Buddha, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. We should not be worried about the adverse economic, financial and business impact of saying NO to war toys, because a peaceful world for our coming generations of tomorrow will be far more precious than a few dollars earned on these potentially destructive toys of today.
I agree with this. I like some war video games, but by the time a kid okays those, they, hopefully, will be a teen and will completely understand that it's a game. For example me, I play some war games, but I am not a violent person and I hate cruelty.
As far as kids having toys guns when they're small...I believe in nature vs. nurture, so even if a little boy played with a toy gun as a child and loved it, I don't believe that will necessarily affect him negatively. Still, it's about the principle of it: guns are for hurting and killing, not for playing. Why give them to your kids?
The psychologists say that whatever a child sees or does (or plays with), it creates deep impression on the personality of the child. After attaining a sensible age even if that person abhors violence, the experiences acquired during the early childhood, good or bad, keep ingrained in the unconscious mind. The same may exhibit in the actions and behavior of that person, surprisingly at times even without the knowledge of the person.So the sensible course of action is to avoid a thing that can grow dangerously beyond proportions in the future.
I agree with this. I like some war video games, but by the time a kid okays those, they, hopefully, will be a teen and will completely understand that it's a game. For example me, I play some war games, but I am not a violent person and I hate cruelty.
ReplyDeleteAs far as kids having toys guns when they're small...I believe in nature vs. nurture, so even if a little boy played with a toy gun as a child and loved it, I don't believe that will necessarily affect him negatively. Still, it's about the principle of it: guns are for hurting and killing, not for playing. Why give them to your kids?
The psychologists say that whatever a child sees or does (or plays with), it creates deep impression on the personality of the child. After attaining a sensible age even if that person abhors violence, the experiences acquired during the early childhood, good or bad, keep ingrained in the unconscious mind. The same may exhibit in the actions and behavior of that person, surprisingly at times even without the knowledge of the person.So the sensible course of action is to avoid a thing that can grow dangerously beyond proportions in the future.
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