Subject:
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Re: LEGO sells "violent" toys?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.mediawatch
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Date:
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Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:09:45 GMT
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Viewed:
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1926 times
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> This point is completely irrelevant. There is always a gulf between the way a
> toy is marketed and the children play with them.
>
> Take, for example, Hotwheels or Matchbox cars. I would assert the that way
> these toys are marketed to kids is a non-violent theme but thinking back to my
> youth I would say that the vast majority of the games I (and my friends) played
> with them could be considered violent in theme (e.g. car crashs, police chases,
> etc).
>
> The point is kids are much smarter in separting reality from fiction than you
> think they are. Made up stories are just that, made up stories and most kids
> realize this. Unfortunatly in this age of freeflowing information you typically
> only hear about extreme cases of the small minority of children who don't have
> this ability. Solution is to help counsel this small number, instead of blaming
> (punishing) society at large.
>
> -Orion
A reasonable well thought out book on the subjects of children and
violent play that I have flipped through recently is
Killing Monsters Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and
Make-Believe Violence by Gerard Jones, Lynn, Md. Ponton
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465036961/103-4100620-7889433?v=glance>
It does separate visual/media violence (TV, movies and video games)
from violent fantasy play, and while not condoning violence, does
consider the impacts of unilaterally banning children's play while at
the same time analysing the use of violent fantasy play as a coping
mechanism for children. There are specific chapters on toy guns as
well as play fighting, the combination of which would be the
prototypical "playing with action figures" that is common to the
Bionicle line (after all, what good is an action figure if it isn't
involved in action? :)
Lets face it, what kids see on the news, hear on the radio, and catch
in the public media is far grittier than what was made public in the
50's. Children mimic what they see, partly as an effort to comprehend
it, and giving them safe, more creative outlets to explore these
topics is better than labeling something "violent" and trying to
"protect" kids from exposure to them. Make something taboo and the
alure will be even greater. Parental involvement and open
communication is still the best form of education out there.
-Rob A>
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: LEGO sells "violent" toys?
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| (...) This point is completely irrelevant. There is always a gulf between the way a toy is marketed and the children play with them. Take, for example, Hotwheels or Matchbox cars. I would assert the that way these toys are marketed to kids is a (...) (20 years ago, 17-Nov-04, to lugnet.mediawatch)
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