In response to an increase in neighborhood gun violence, a local elementary school in Salinas, California is offering to exchange toy guns for books and other "safe" toys. The assistant principal notes that he's interested in showing kids alternative nonviolent playtime activities.
Promoting peace is a serious business, exemplified by this nation's current occupations. But I wonder how much of it, violence, is primal? Natural even? Having spent the majority of my 30s around small violent people, I wonder how much toy guns beget violence? My brother prohibited toy guns from his house and his two boys used sticks to shoot at one another.
And you heard me, I said "boys." Violence is intrinsically part of human nature (boy-girl-whatever), and sometimes playing it out is healthier than sublimating it to be expressed later (ouzi anyone?). I'm not saying it's fabulous to give kids guns. I am saying that they will make guns and hats and balls out of any old thing anyway. If you want to teach your kids nonviolence, the best method is refraining from violence yourself.
