British Government: Boys Need to be Boys

Wow, can you believe it?  Some common sense from the British government, which is telling educators to let boys play cops and robbers, or Army, or cowboys, even if that means using a toy gun. 

Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes said: “The guidance simply takes a commonsense approach to the fact that many young children and perhaps particularly many boys, like boisterous, physical activity.”

“Although noisy for adults such imaginary games are good for their development as well as good fun.”

But Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “The real problem with weapons is that they symbolise aggression.

“The reason teachers often intervene when kids have toy guns is that the boy is usually being very aggressive. We do need to ensure, whether the playing is rumbustious or not, that there is a respect for your peers, however young they are.”

Chris Keates, general secretary of the The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) union said: “Many parents take the decision that their children won’t have toy weapons.”

Research by Penny Holland, academic leader for early childhood at London Metropolitan University, has also concluded that boys should be allowed to play gun games.

She found boys became dispirited and withdrawn when they are told such play-fighting is wrong.

Of course, as a parent I make sure my kids get constant exposure to the Eddie Eagle program as well.  The last thing I want is for my child to think that a real firearm is just the same as a toy.  We have a lot of Nerf guns in our house, and frankly I like the fact that it’s pretty darn easy for the kids to differentiate between the two.  All the same, Andrew knows that he is not to play with any “toy gun” that he finds laying on a yard, playground, etc.  It’s far better to let an adult check it out than to risk hurting himself or someone else.