Should parents not purchase war or destruction type toys for their children?

To tell you the truth, I loved my cowgirl outfit with cap pistols!  I don't think it did any harm.

My Dad bought me those little green army men and Lone Ranger cap guns and I loved them. Even as a little girl I knew toys were toys and not reality. My school yard games of dodge-ball were more violent than any toys! LOL 😂

When my brother was in pre-kindergarten or kindergarten he took some toy to school for show and tell.  It was some weapon from some cartoon. It made a noise and maybe lit up. The teacher took it away from him and gave it to my dad when he picked up my brother. The teacher informed him they do not sllow things that represent violence in the classroom.  Dad was fine with that.  Two months later the kids had a field trip to a craft show. They were allowed to bring money and make a purchase. My brother came home with a wooden gun that used a clothespin and would actually fire rubberbands. My dad was at the school the next day. Not only did the teacher allow my brother to buy an "object that represents violence", it actually functioned as a weapon. My dad was less than happy, not only at the hypocrisy, but because at 4-5 years old my brother thought it was ok to shoot the cat. At least the toy my dad had gotten my brother never hurt anyone.

It is a matter of making things age appropriate. We grew up with a gun on the house.  We knew it was there. We had seen it fired and knew the damage that it can do.  None of us grew up hurting anyone. Instead we grew up with respect for such weapons.

My parents bought me tonka trucks yes the old metal ones with a tonka truck front end loader it moves dirt i wouldnt call it destruction

My sister believed this and she found out that not everyone agreed with her. Her son and daughter would go over to a friend's house to play that had these toys. Of course they played with them and of course my sister found out about this.

You cannot shield kids from everything. Teach them what their imagination can do for them, what's real and what isn't and let them decide for themselves what toys they want to play with.

Personally I think the toys pale in comparison to the violent and graphic games kids have available to them. There is no question that good parenting and mentoring is critical to help a child develop social skills and humanitarianism. They still need to be taught and reminded kindness, empathy, charity, humility, acceptance. However there seems to be a very destructive trend happening in this generation that we have never seen before .. The complacency towards death, mutilation and torture etc is alarming.

I'm really sorry...posted this in the wrong place again...

I watched all the shoot'em up westerns in the 50's & 60's. I'll have to admit in high school someone else reached over the table to kiss me and my boyfriend got real upset. I knew right from wrong but the next day I still took my dad's 22 to a local fast food restaurant and threatened him (but I was REALLY just kidding). VERY FORTUNATE no police were around.

Please you guys, just trying to share what influence westerns had on me.