TOY GUNS' AUTHENTICITY TRIGGERS DEBATE ABOUT KIDS, PERCEPTIONS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 16, 1993                   TAG: 9304160165
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Landmark News Service
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium
TOY GUNS' AUTHENTICITY TRIGGERS DEBATE ABOUT KIDS, PERCEPTIONS
At age 10, Justin Bates has outgrown his toy machine gun. But he remembers it fondly.
After he and his friends were "shot" they'd get up and start the game all over. But Justin understands that's not how it works in real life.
"Oh, I don't think real guns should even exist," he said. "They hurt people, and people die from them."
Some parents, child-care providers and psychologists aren't so sure all children understand the difference between play and reality as well as Justin does. Helping to blur the line are the realistic toys that have replaced cap guns and water pistols.
There's the Pulsating Fazer II by Royal Candor Co., complete with lights, loud, battery-generated sounds and a handle that vibrates. And the seven-piece Combat Force play set that includes an Uzi machine gun and a .45-caliber automatic pistol.
Diversifies Specialist Inc., which makes the seven-piece combat set as well as laser guns that transform into laser swords, markets what it knows will sell.
"The kids are exposed to these in movies and on TV," said company vice president Richard McNeely. "We parallel what they see on TV."
Child-care provider LaShawn Fortes knows firsthand what children are picking up from their environment. She knew something was going wrong when a 2-year-old told her he was "going to get my gun and shoot the police."
Fortes feels so strongly about the violence children are exposed to that she has banned toy guns and gun games from her Norfolk day-care center.
"I think it fosters a tolerance for violence," she said. "What are we doing when we put guns in our boys' hands? They don't understand that if I shoot my friend, he's not coming back.
"Even with the old games, cowboys and Indians, the Indians were always shot. What is that teaching them?" she said.
But clinical specialist Michele Zimmerman said playing with toy guns may not be teaching children bad behavior. Instead, she said, games tend to reflect the world they see.
A child whose family hunts is likely to play hunting games, she said, while a child exposed to violence against people is likely to copy that behavior.
Carolyn D. Moore, a child psychologist, said that even if children don't have access to toy weapons, they will fashion guns out of household items to imitate what they see around them.
"I suppose children have played with toy guns since real guns were invented," Zimmerman said. "I think they're part of society. I don't see anything wrong with it."
Zimmerman uses toy guns in therapy, instructing children to shoot suction darts at targets because the game gives children a sense of mastery and control and teaches them safe ways to handle a gun.
But other professionals aren't so sure playing with toy guns is innocuous. Charles Broadfield, a psychologist who practices in Norfolk and Hampton, said he didn't allow his own children to play with guns.
Children should not be allowed to play " `bang-bang, you're dead' because the child develops the idea that the gun is a terminator," Broadfield said. "That's what we're seeing today with teen-agers."
Parents should encourage play that develops character, he said, and games that require team effort.
A good portion of the blame for children's acceptance of violence belongs not with the toy companies but with the media, some parents said.
"The way television gears things now, it's different," said Marvin Williamson of Virginia Beach. "It's more graphic and it desensitizes."
His 5-year-old, Joshua, is fond of toy guns that make noise.
"When I was growing up, the Lone Ranger never killed the guy. He would just shoot the gun out of his hand and tie a rope around him, but now everything is blood and guts," Williamson said.
Parents must bear some of the responsibility for teaching their children about the dangers of guns and violence, said Charles Monroe, father of a 13-year-old boy.
"We've sat our son down and explained to him that in real life, people don't get back up and keep fighting after you shoot them," Monroe said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB