Another mom takes her stand against toy weapons . Dr. William Pollack, author of Real Boys, discusses the biological imperative. Girls engage in it, too, but not as much or with as much intensity. While there may be a biological proclivity to energetic, forceful play, the form that it takes is cultural.
Guns are a modern, western-industrialized image.
In places where there s social interest in guns, you see boys playing with guns instead of sticks and stones. Yes, unless we are incredibly vigilant or even repressive in stopping them. We have to be careful in how we deal with boys on this issue. Shaming makes boys more aggressive, not less. Pretend play is healthy, not harmful, and playing with toy guns is no predictor of future violent behavior.