Keep war toys off holiday shopping list
We are well into the holiday shopping frenzy. I’m asking buyers to think before they buy, especially with regards to guns, tanks, and other war toys.
What message are we sending children by giving them toy guns? That it’s OK to kill? Younger children can’t distinguish fantasy from reality. They will only imitate the gun violence seen in many TV shows, action movies, video games — and, sadly, the gun violence on our streets.
Some of the guns are quite realistic-looking. Just remember the case of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old who was killed by a Cleveland police officer for carrying a toy gun that was mistaken for a real one. Just last year, Nyah Mway, a 13-year-old, was killed in Utica, N.Y., because the toy he had was thought to be an actual weapon.
Guns are tools used for very specific, very serious ends, and should never be represented as toys. Toy tanks and other war toys only magnify the militarism that is so pervasive in our society. Providing a child with such a toy will not serve any meaningful purpose except to promote violence.
Guns and tanks are not toys. This Christmas, please consider sparing your child the opportunity to fantasize about shooting, maiming, or killing anyone or anything. Don’t buy war toys.
Jeanne Allen
Easthampton