Skip to content
My SD Moms

MySDMoms.com

For San Diego Moms and Moms-To-Be

SD Logos
  • Home
  • Sign Up: MySDMoms Club
  • Categories
    • SD Moms Podcast
    • Health & NutritionHealth & Nutrition stories
    • Lifestyle
    • NewbornNewborn & Baby, 0-12 Months
    • NewsNewsworthy items
    • Plan/PregnancyPlanning and Pregnancy stories
    • Tips
    • Toddlers/Pre-SchoolersToddlers, 13-24 Months
  • Tools/Resources
  • Videos
  • Home
  • 2015
  • March
  • Boys and Guns: What’s a Parent to Do?
  • Child Safety
  • Education
  • News
  • Toddlers/Pre-Schoolers
  • Youngsters

Boys and Guns: What’s a Parent to Do?

My SD Moms March 17, 2015

Share This!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

I blame George Washington for my son’s obsession with guns.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

It all started when my husband took our preschooler to Mount Vernon, home to the “father of our country.” They came home with a tricorner hat, a compass, and a cute little wooden popgun. That was last year. Today, our house is littered with toy slingshots, cannons, and guns—the result of a growing fascination with “good guys,” “bad guys,” and all of the banging and kabooming that goes on in between.

 

Until recently, I had become adept at making jokes about my son’s fascination with toy guns. I figured, this is probably just a phase; it will pass soon enough, right? Unfortunately, the horrific shootings in Tucson, Arizona have shed glaring new light on the gun play in my house. Can a fascination with guns go too far?

 

Hardwired for Gun Play?

 

First, a basic question: Are little boys predisposed to gun play?

 

“All one needs to do is look around to see that a connection exists,” says Joshua Weiner, an Arlington, Virginia-based psychiatrist who specializes in children and adolescents. “This connection is likely—like most things—a combination of genetics and environment.”

 

In today’s society, it is difficult to shield a child from “expressions of violence,” whether they come from television shows, video games or even older siblings and friends, Weiner notes. “Boys are likely predisposed to respond.”

 

“Boys probably have some yet-unknown gene which contributes to this behavior,” he adds. “Think about men being the hunter/gatherer and needing to kill for food and to protect their family.”

 

Still, identifying the ancestral underpinnings of aggression in boys doesn’t make it any easier for parents.

 

Molly Wilkinson Johnson, a mom of one in Huntsville, Alabama, remembers feeling “chills” when a boy pointed a toy gun at her infant son: “And yet I can see my baby being that five-year-old in a few years!”

 

Click HERE for the rest of this article

My SD Moms

See author's posts

Tags: accessories activities behavior birth child care childhood learning communication daycare education family kids parenting pregnancy preparation safety

Continue Reading

Previous: San Diego Easter Bunny Photos
Next: Don’t Wait, Vaccinate: Protect Infants from Deadly Diseases

Related Stories

Free Easter Egg Hunts in San Diego
  • News

Free Easter Egg Hunts in San Diego

March 31, 2023
Best things to do this Spring in San Diego
  • News

Best things to do this Spring in San Diego

March 27, 2023
Kid-friendly St. Patrick’s Day Events in San Diego
  • News

Kid-friendly St. Patrick’s Day Events in San Diego

March 9, 2023

Recent Posts

  • Free Easter Egg Hunts in San Diego
  • Best things to do this Spring in San Diego
  • Kid-friendly St. Patrick’s Day Events in San Diego
  • Road trip idea: Anza-Borrego State Park for the Super Bloom!
  • Five Free Things To Do With Your Family in SD This March

KPOptimismHealthy

  • Home
  • Our Mission
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Job Opportunities
  • General Contest Rules
Copyright © 2022 Audacy, Inc. All rights reserved. | DarkNews by AF themes.