Play brings serious thoughts
10/08/16 05:33
Many years ago when our children were growing up, we discovered super soakers. These are water guns that use an hand pump to create air pressure that forces the water through a nozzle at quite a bit of power giving the toy more accuracy and range than the standard water guns that were popular when I was a child. It is the kind of toy that is a lot more fun if you have two so that two people can play the game. Most of the time, both end up getting wet. Sometimes, when our kids were teens, the “battle” would escalate into use of the garden hose to complete the drenching.
We didn't encourage gun play with our children, though we did try to teach them some basics of gun safety as they grew old enough to understand. The super soakers, however, were just so much fun that the game frequently erupted, especially on hot summer days.
Kids grow up, our lives have moved on and the super soakers sat in a plastic bin with other unused outdoor toys for a long time. Then yesterday when our friends arrived with their four-year-old grandson, we went outside to play and opened the bin in search of a frisbee and balls for outdoor play. The young boy’s eyes fell on the super soakers and he was immediately attracted to the toy. With the temperatures in the 90’s it was a good day for water play and before long both of the guns were filled with water and we were sneaking around the back yard, crouching behind trees and receiving blasts of cold water accompanied by the infectious laughter of a four-year-old. It was great fun and a good game for a child who has been traveling a lot in the past week and was ready to just have time to run and play and enjoy being with friends.
The super soakers that we have are made of brightly-colored plastic and although the shapes vaguely resemble weapons, with hand grips and triggers like a gun, no one who knows anything about guns would be confused about the purpose of the toys. Still, I am reminded of how toys can become serious and play can turn to danger.
It was also yesterday that Rapid City police released their conclusions in an investigation where shots were fired from a real gun. The incident began with two young adult robbers when entered a store with a plastic airsoft gun. The store clerk wisely gave them the demanded money and they fled the store. A bystander, who didn’t witness the robbery, but saw the suspects fleeing took out his handgun and fired shots at the fleeing robbers. No one was hit by the real bullets fired. After an investigation, police say it was a crime for the shooter of the real weapon. The suspects in the robbery have been arrested and are in jail awaiting trial for their crime. The shooter has been charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, a misdemeanor offense. The misuse of a toy gun accelerated to the misuse of a potentially lethal weapon.
In our society it is important for all citizens to learn about our responsibilities when it comes to weapons, toy or real. As we have learned from numerous incidents across the country the use of a toy in a threatening manner can lead to confusion that results in fatal shots from a real weapon.
Yesterday was also the 2-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, a Ferguson, Missouri, teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014. There have been a lot of different opinions about the events that led to Mr. Brown’s death and the incident was a flashpoint for protests and gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. The father of Mr. Brown has been active in organizing peaceful memorials and remembrances of his son and called for a quiet candlelight vigil in his son’s memory to mark the second anniversary of his death. Somehow, however, the event turned violent. The details are not yet clear, but news reports state that gunfire broke out after a car hit a protestor. Photos of the event show the person hit by the car to be conscious and being carried away. It is unclear whether the person was struck by accident or whether the car was being used as a weapon. Shortly after he was hit a number or protestors began chasing the car. One or more guns were drawn and shots struck the car. Fortunately no one was injured by the gunfire.
Reading the news headlines this morning I was struck by how close innocent play that is great fun can come to real dangerous actions that result in injury and death. Those of us who choose to play with toys that resemble guns bear the responsibility of teaching our children about the safe and proper use of weapons. It seems like a difficult and perhaps premature lesson for a four-year-old. We do know, however, instinctively, how to intervene with a preschooler when it is time to end the play. We set limits. He learned that the toys were our outdoors play only. He had to make sure that the person he was going to soak had consented to the game. We taught him to avoid aiming at heads and faces. We made sure that he knew how to put down his water gun when we brought out the towels for people to dry off. We had him put the toys away at the end of the day. The use of the toys brought responsibilities. Hopefully these lessons form a foundation for future decisions that will be made.
Even though we live in a dangerous world, the innocent play of children remains a blessing and I’m delighted to be able to participate in that play. I don’t want our fears to prevent us from the joy of sharing with children. Still, I also know that I share in the responsibility of teaching as we play so that we can build a community that is safe for all of our children and a society where people can live without fear.
We didn't encourage gun play with our children, though we did try to teach them some basics of gun safety as they grew old enough to understand. The super soakers, however, were just so much fun that the game frequently erupted, especially on hot summer days.
Kids grow up, our lives have moved on and the super soakers sat in a plastic bin with other unused outdoor toys for a long time. Then yesterday when our friends arrived with their four-year-old grandson, we went outside to play and opened the bin in search of a frisbee and balls for outdoor play. The young boy’s eyes fell on the super soakers and he was immediately attracted to the toy. With the temperatures in the 90’s it was a good day for water play and before long both of the guns were filled with water and we were sneaking around the back yard, crouching behind trees and receiving blasts of cold water accompanied by the infectious laughter of a four-year-old. It was great fun and a good game for a child who has been traveling a lot in the past week and was ready to just have time to run and play and enjoy being with friends.
The super soakers that we have are made of brightly-colored plastic and although the shapes vaguely resemble weapons, with hand grips and triggers like a gun, no one who knows anything about guns would be confused about the purpose of the toys. Still, I am reminded of how toys can become serious and play can turn to danger.
It was also yesterday that Rapid City police released their conclusions in an investigation where shots were fired from a real gun. The incident began with two young adult robbers when entered a store with a plastic airsoft gun. The store clerk wisely gave them the demanded money and they fled the store. A bystander, who didn’t witness the robbery, but saw the suspects fleeing took out his handgun and fired shots at the fleeing robbers. No one was hit by the real bullets fired. After an investigation, police say it was a crime for the shooter of the real weapon. The suspects in the robbery have been arrested and are in jail awaiting trial for their crime. The shooter has been charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, a misdemeanor offense. The misuse of a toy gun accelerated to the misuse of a potentially lethal weapon.
In our society it is important for all citizens to learn about our responsibilities when it comes to weapons, toy or real. As we have learned from numerous incidents across the country the use of a toy in a threatening manner can lead to confusion that results in fatal shots from a real weapon.
Yesterday was also the 2-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, a Ferguson, Missouri, teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014. There have been a lot of different opinions about the events that led to Mr. Brown’s death and the incident was a flashpoint for protests and gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. The father of Mr. Brown has been active in organizing peaceful memorials and remembrances of his son and called for a quiet candlelight vigil in his son’s memory to mark the second anniversary of his death. Somehow, however, the event turned violent. The details are not yet clear, but news reports state that gunfire broke out after a car hit a protestor. Photos of the event show the person hit by the car to be conscious and being carried away. It is unclear whether the person was struck by accident or whether the car was being used as a weapon. Shortly after he was hit a number or protestors began chasing the car. One or more guns were drawn and shots struck the car. Fortunately no one was injured by the gunfire.
Reading the news headlines this morning I was struck by how close innocent play that is great fun can come to real dangerous actions that result in injury and death. Those of us who choose to play with toys that resemble guns bear the responsibility of teaching our children about the safe and proper use of weapons. It seems like a difficult and perhaps premature lesson for a four-year-old. We do know, however, instinctively, how to intervene with a preschooler when it is time to end the play. We set limits. He learned that the toys were our outdoors play only. He had to make sure that the person he was going to soak had consented to the game. We taught him to avoid aiming at heads and faces. We made sure that he knew how to put down his water gun when we brought out the towels for people to dry off. We had him put the toys away at the end of the day. The use of the toys brought responsibilities. Hopefully these lessons form a foundation for future decisions that will be made.
Even though we live in a dangerous world, the innocent play of children remains a blessing and I’m delighted to be able to participate in that play. I don’t want our fears to prevent us from the joy of sharing with children. Still, I also know that I share in the responsibility of teaching as we play so that we can build a community that is safe for all of our children and a society where people can live without fear.