Discussions

I was just reading yesturday's Brandon Sun and one article in particular caught my attention... it was just another one of those "reports show kids spending too much time in front of the TV" type articles, but it reminded me of a conversation I had a few days ago with a friend of mine over coffee while our kids were playing.  
 
We were discussing that exact same issue and I thought it was quite funny that alot of parents today don't let their kids play games that, when we were children, found quite fun... cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, soldiers, building forts in the "bush" near our home, etc. etc.  
 
I for one let my 5 year old son play with guns. And he roams freely around our neighborhood (within peramiters set by myself and his father in which he is never anywhere that I can't see him from one of the windows in my house) and I don't think there is anything wrong with that!! Some parents may be critical of these things but I really don't care... I think kids now a days need more freedom, they need to be able to play out from under their parents ever watchful eyes so that they can learn how to deal with issues such as bullies and peer pressure on their own... if my son ever has a problem that he doesn't know how to deal with he comes and talks to me about it. We discuss different ways he can deal with the problem and then follow through with whichever we decide is the best way. We talk about his playtime outside away from me everyday and I'm sure that I know most of everything that goes on in his social life away from me. And the things that I don't know about I'm fine with because hey he can have a life of his own too.... even if he is 5. I trust my son and know (based on past experiences) that he knows enough about himself and me and whats right and wrong to come to me with things. We've had experiences where other kids do or say something that they shouldn't and my son has told them he's going to tell and they've told him not to, but he always does. And we have discussions about it. I'm sure that won't last forever but I know enough about my parenting to know that he will about the important things...  
And as far as guns are concerned and "war games" like soldiers and cops and robbers and the like... I don't think that it means my son is learning to be violent, it simply means he's a kid being a kid. We discuss the difference between pretend and reality all the time. And I'd rather have my kids outside playing with toy guns and learning how to interect with others, problem solve and follow rules without me right there every 2 seconds telling him he can and can't do this and that, than sitting inside decaying on the couch in front of the TV or computer.  
 
I dunno food for thought I guess....