kid games

[Misty Dream's]

Out in California there is a school that is banning the game Cop's and Robber's, and any game that is simmilar....

What do you think?

Is there any harm in a child point a finger as a gun?

What will be next?

Why was it ok to play when we were kids and not now?

[demon chloe]

Real, play or pretend (your finger) In my school district...guns are banned. It has to be that way... if school districts are going to follow zero tolerance policies.


In my own opinion though, there is no place for it at school. Seems harmless to me, cause I don't have any real agressive tendencies. Most certainly, others do... and for that being one of those very reasons...zero tolerance. But there has to be limits, and lines.


Some people cannot control themselves when the get aggressive... Agressive play is scary sometimes....to sit and watch


As a teacher. I can think of a million other things to make believe play...or do during recess or free time.


During the school year I teach Kindergarten students...5 and 6 year olds. Knives...a real gun...lots of paintball guns..and a sword have been brought to school for show and tell.

I teach 11 - 16 year olds in the summer. Almost on a daily basis I confiscate knives and some other dangerous things.


I think it all goes hand in hand..when you think of it in terms of zero tolerance policies...

<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ March 24, 2002 09:58 AM: Message edited by: demon chloe ]</font>

[JohnUK]

Here's a UK perspective on this...

In the last few years there have been too many incidents in schools in the UK and USA (and I'm sure elsewhere) involving guns and other weapons...

Teachers, parents, and other people involved in a child's development have to be aware of the possible influences games like cops and robbers can have...It's easy to say that banning the game is too extreme, but surely it's better to err on the side of caution than to be too relaxed about it...

As I write this, I can remember an incident in a school about 25 miles from where I live...A young boy had been playing cops and robbers in school one day with his friends. His father had a small gun collection, and the following day, the boy took a gun from the collection and took it to school with him to make playing the game more "fun"...It was only because the gun wasn't loaded that serious injury didn't happen...

In the place where I work...in the last 6 months, I've seen children under the age of 12 point an airgun and a knife at members of my staff...

Society, and attitudes in society, have changed considerably in the last decade or so, which is why zero tolerance HAS to be the correct decision.

And, as chloe says, there are millions of make believe games that children can be shown, taught and encouraged to play that don't involve the use of pretend weapons or violence...

[Blazey]

I have to agree..no place for this..first and foremost this starts at home i think..One incidence here..that i saw first hand..

A neighbor of mine has two boys..age 7 and 11..The 11 year old was babysitting while mom and dad worked..The 7 year old was watching something on tv..i dont remember what it was now..but he decided to act out a scene from the show..with his 11 year old brother..He goes into the kitchen..gets a knife..one of his mothers sharp cutting knives..he runs off to find his brother...and starts showing him the scene from the show..the next scene i saw..was an EMT carrying the body of the 7 year old out of his house..the 11 year old..in total tramatized shock..2 parents racing home to find their baby..had fell on the knife..the child bled to death..before his brothers eyes..now the father drinks way too much..the mom says not alot of anything..but the 11 year old..feels guilt..
It was a sad story..he didnt bring the knife to school..but he could very well have..all over a scene on television..You have to wonder in that case..blame mom and dad?..blame his older brother?..or blame the 7 year old..who should have known better?

Sure..it was an accident..a horrible lesson to be learned..

<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ March 25, 2002 11:57 AM: Message edited by: Blazey ]</font>

[Misty Dream's]

I agree with not bring any toy guns or real guns to school, but playing cops and robbers with your finger or hand should be allowed just not putting your hand in a coat or shirt, make you hand visible at all times. When I was in high school we had two different times kids brought guns to school, not to harm any one, just to show off. It does not just happen in big cities, but out in the country were I live. If parents would teach their children about this kind of stuff it would not be happening as often.

[~sweet~]

I also work at a school ......back several months ago we found out a student had planned to kill 10 students from there. It was such a shock we are a close school. I have known alot of these kids since they were babies. The real shock came when my son's name was on the list. It hit too close to home. Cops and robbers only gives kids ideas of what they can do. Plus kids have wild imaginations too. If you take the imagination and the aggression that is bottled up inside God only knows what came happen. Yes guns on school property aren't allowed. Thank God his plans all failed our school could have been another stastic and I could be without my child and alot of innocent kids would have died [img]frown.gif[/img] . That just my two cents on the subject.

<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ March 25, 2002 05:30 PM: Message edited by: ~sweet~ ]</font>

[Myra]

Guns and children......scary. No, school is not a place for toy guns, fake guns or finger guns. I grew up in a house with guns, my dad is an avid hunter that is where he gets his meat from, but we were brought up with the proper respect for guns when and where to use them and when and were to touch them. Ther is not enough of that anymore , Parents buy the guns and hide them from the children, The children find them and play with them. Its scary. Sure I played guns when I was a kid, what kid didnt, but I remeber even when i was a child we got in trouble for doing it at school.

[demon chloe]

Last year...some of you know..I ended the school year in fear. I would NOT be the first person to enter our building I was so scared.

Someone decided to carve some reference relating to Columbine in a bathroom dooor. It was specific. School officials took it seriously.

The next week, a picture of our High School in flames was found on the internet.....with another caption..more graphic...

No backpacks...whatsoever allowed in school, kids passing through metal dectectors........law enforcement officers patroling the hallways...and perimeters of the properties...


~~~~ scary....just makes you think.....