parenting for peace

When leaving movie theater today, there was a video arcade to the right as you exit. There we saw two small children, about age 5, like the one pictured above, so small, they could barely see the screen shooting the guns, as two Moms stood nearby, casually chatting.  Poor kids did not know they were being programmed to think that guns & shooting are fun & games. 

It was a heartbreaking vision really, especially in light of the recent shooting spree in Arizona. 

When my kids were young, I attended a parenting for peace conference @ the local university. Bottom line, you as a parent have the absolute power & final word to say no to toy weapons & all kinds of violence. 

Refuse to buy toy weapons. Have visiting kids check in their toy weapons @ the door. They even invited us to watch cartoons & count how many incidents of violence were portrayed in a 1/2 hour show. 

We embraced these theories entirely.  We let our kids play edutainment games, rather than shoot-em-up mindless violent games. 

Look at top video games-- they have titles like Red Dead Redemption,  Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, 

Gears of War, Call of Duty - Black Ops,  Soldier of Fortune (allows players to torture & brutalize enemies), Thrill Kill, Mad World, Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto. 

Many of the worst are so violent, there are lawsuits as to if they should even be allowed. 

What good can become of logging time with "games" described as "nothing is too vile or unrealistic, in the face of death, blood and mayhem. 

Some would argue a little fantasy violence is an outlet for frustration & harmless. 

The parenting for peace conference stated that our kids are too young to make such choices, and would just as easily be happy building things with legos, or playdough. We are not obliged to buy in to the culture of violence. 

I would contend that we need to fill our lives with things less violent- especially for the kids.