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Subject: 
Re: LEGO sells "violent" toys?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.mediawatch
Date: 
Thu, 18 Nov 2004 17:23:21 GMT
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Christian Treczoks wrote:
Therefor I actually think about abandoning Lego as a toy for my kid (not
as my building toy, though).
So why can't you just buy sets and give him only the "approved parts"?

Not an easy or light-hearted step for a die-hard AFOL.
A real conviction should triumph over this, hands down.

Have a look e.g. at the Playmobil range of toys: Yes,
they have a police theme. But it is not an action movie police. They
have a speeding cam set, traffic wardens, policemen who help kids
crossing the streets, policemen who run a traffic school, and even a set
where a policeman catches a burgler. No "Action Trikes", no
"Surveillance Trucks", no "Armoured Car Action". So which toy is more
suitable to re-play real life for a kid?
Your argument is divided between building and play.

In building, it is impossible to determine what will be built by the end user,
including weapons. Anything can be represented by Lego. Playmobil is irrelevant
here because it is not a building toy.

Play is imitation of life, real or imagined, and should be guided by you. If a
child plays violently, he/she will find ways of introducing other toy weapons,
manufactured or made up, or violent play techniques to his toys regardless of
whether the toys originally included those things. I've also noticed that kids
without violent tendencies don't buy or ask for toys that they deem violent.
Playmobil is also irrelevant here because a kid with half an imagination can
make anything they want, even Playmobil, violently-themed. (As a fictitious
example of toys used for purposes other than their original intent, see the
creations of the character known as "Sid" in the movie "Toy Story")

Violence is best taught by demonstration, what it accomplishes, and what it
personally satisfies, not by toys that don't move. A soldier can be loved, even
if he's a trained killer, and his motivation for learning violence can be
exclusively because he loves his country, not because of wanting to see some
poor sap get cut in half and meet his doom bleeding in the mud.

You need to find out what motivates your child's play, which goes MUCH deeper
than his toys. Once you know that, you already have all the knowledge you need
to make your choice to the satisfaction of your conscience. Do what you must.

-Tom McD.



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: LEGO sells "violent" toys?
 
(...) Well cats have claws. But they are there for hunting (and destroying furniture), and they are comparably small. Compare the Bionicle claws to the overall size of the "figures". And cats do not use spears or flaming swords... (...) Thinking and (...) (20 years ago, 17-Nov-04, to lugnet.mediawatch)

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