Parents do not want their kids playing with toy guns due to the danger of children not being able to differentiate between fake and real ones.
They want to protect their kids from getting hurt, and this is the ultimate reason why they do not want their children playing with pretend guns, The Conversation reported.
There are toy guns for kids that look very much alike the real ones such as pistols and rifles. This can be seriously dangerous because children may come across a real gun but would see it as a toy. They can just pick it up, play around with it, point it to a friend or themselves and pull the trigger.
In other instances, children may be in a harmless game playing with pretend guys. However, there is a possibility that someone will not see it as a non-danger. A person could assume that the kids are playing with a real gun, see them as a threat, defend themselves and hurt the children in the process.
Toy guns instill violence
Another reason parents do not want their kids playing with toy guns is the violence that it can instill to the children. Playing with pretend guys can negatively affect how a child can interact with people and how they solve problems, which they can also bring into adulthood.
According to research published in the American Psychological Association, seeing weapons triggers people to act more aggressively. This is called the weapon effect, and it applies even to toy guns.
It has also been observed that after kids watch shows or movies that contain gun violence, children not only want to play more with guns but also become violent themselves. This is also true when they play computer games involving violence. They become comfortable with aggression, brutality and destructiveness.
In a study entitled "Effect of Exposure to Gun Violence in Video Games on Children's Dangerous Behavior With Real Guns," researchers discovered that kids who plays violent video games show more signs of aggressiveness and force as compared to those who are not.
Worse, these kids who are exposed to a lot of gun shooting movies and video games and allowed to play toy guns may believe that the right way to settle differences and arguments is through guns and violence, instead of learning that there are more constructive ways to solve disputes.
Read More: Cops Warn Kids About Realistic Toy Guns
Banning toy guns can lower the statistics
Thus, experts encourage parents to limit their kids' exposure to movies and TV shows featuring guns and violent computer games. Further, they suggest for parents to choose buying non-weapon toys for them.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are hundreds of children that die because of gun violence every year in America. Moreover, there are over a hundred kids killed in the country because they pointed a gun they thought was a toy to themselves and pulled the trigger or a playmate did.
Experts are reminding parents on the gravity of gun safety and gun violence, especially with all the school shootings that are happening - children bringing guns to school and kids dying because they saw a firearm placed unsafely in their reach. Banning toy guns can significantly lower the current death statistics involving children and guns.
