[Leica] guns, photography, and the american psychosis

[bd at bdcolenphoto.com (B. D. Colen)]

Funny you should mention all this, Frank - No, our kids didn't have Davy
Crockett, and Lord knows they didn't have Cowboys and Original Americans,;-)
- but they had Star Wars - with laser sabers and guns.

My wife and I were determined we weren't going to let our kids play with toy
guns, until my first-born kept taking the thermometer from his toy 'doctor
kit' and sticking it into the otoscope to turn it into a pistol! So we asked
a child psychiatrist friend of ours, a wonder, gentle, insightful man who
had written a terrific child rearing book called "What Shall We Tell The
Children," what he thought about kids and toy guns. His response? "I have
them in the toy basket in my office" He said that he only worried about toy
guns and kids when the kids would use the toy guns to act out violent acts -
as in pointing them at parents or friends in anger, and expressing a wish to
kill them. The other thing that he said was a real warning sign of trouble
ahead was kids exhibiting intentional cruelty toward animals.

Anyway, my point about playing with toy guns, Davy Crockett, etc., was how
ingrained all that is/was in our society. Yes, Westerns are pretty much gun
- certainly on t.v. - but look at what's on instead.






On 10/20/06 9:53 AM, "Frank Filippone" <red735i@earthlink.net> wrote:

> I was thinking .....
> 
> Me too, all of these.  But there is a whole generation that has no idea of
> what you are talking about.... My kids for instance.....
> cowboys and Indians?  Playing Davy Crockett?  Do you think they would have 
> had
> any idea?    We date ourselves from our memories and
> our statements... 30 somethings just will never know the joy of that real 
> fur
> cap ( rabbit skin).
> 
> My wife, upon birth of our first son, decided there would be no play guns.
> Her father was a Life member of the NRA, but she is dead
> set against violence. Play guns breed violence.  So the kid has toys like
> hammers, blocks etc, but no toy guns.  He is about 2 now,
> and he is playing with a friend.  Lunch time.  The boys were very animated,
> having lots of fun at the table when our son picks up a
> banana, aims it at his friend and "shoots" him with that banana.
> 
> Frank Filippone
> red735i@earthlink.net
> 
> I don't know about you, Walt, but I grew up playing with toy guns - playing
> war, playing "Davy Crockett," playing "cowboys and Indians." Think about 
> how
> much all that play had to do with the acceptance of guns as a part of every
> day life.
> 
> 
> 
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