by Don Bishoff of The Register-Guard
Will the kid who fires a Rambo water machine gun be more likely to punch a friend today or push the button to start World War III tomorrow?
The peaceful folk who make up the Eugene-based Families for Survival think so. They contend that “war toys” — meaning everything from the Rambo water gun to cowboy six-shooters and Star Wars laser zappers — are bad for kids, and the world.
But this year they aren’t picketing Toys R’ Us — the principle purveyor of fantasy warfare locally — as they have in years past. Instead, they’re trying a less-aggressive approach.
It’s a Peace Toy Fair — complete with war-toy burial ceremony and sale of non-war toys — from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday at United Lutheran Church at 22nd and Washington streets in Eugene.
Why the worry about war toys?
“If a parent gives a child a toy grenade, and says it’s acceptable to play with that, the connection in the child’s mind could be: If that’s acceptable, what’s wrong with nuclear bombs, what’s wrong with missiles?” said Nancy Bray, the fair organizer. “Somehow we have to stop that cycle.”
I don’t disagree with her philosophy, but I do have a problem in making it stretch quite that far.
I grew up on a steady diet of gun fighting Western movies and WWII-inspired toy guns. But I can’t remember ever punching a playmate (probably because I’d have gotten punched back). Nor do I consider myself a raging militarist today.
Ah, but I don’t understand the violence escalation in recent years by TV and toy makers, say Bray and other members of Families for Survival.
“One of the reasons groups like this have sprung up is the dramatic increase in the proportion of television and toys devoted to violence,” said group member Deborah Kearns. “It’s not the kind of violence we saw in Bugs Bunny cartoons, where they were bopping each other on the head.”
Rather, she said, it’s literally all-out warfare on a giant scale in such cartoon shows as “GI Joe” and “Thundercats.” And, toy-manufacturer sponsors capitalize on this by selling militaristic toys modeled after the shows’ characters and events, she said.
The manufacturers piously contend that they’re teaching patriotism and defense of The American Way. Group member Judy Lucas disagrees.
“You’re not teaching children any kind of evaluation,” she said. “You’re just psyching them up for emotional, so-called patriotic, war-like responses to situations . . . You’re preparing them to grow up and be ready to participate in that kind of conflict — not teaching them problem-solving or negotiating.”
I sought some response from Toys R’ Us to all this but got shot down. The Eugene store manager referred me to the regional manager, who referred me to the New Jersey office of Vice President Michael Goldstein. And Goldstein declined to answer my questions.
“Mr. Goldstein said he believes in freedom of speech and respects any group that wants to talk about it,” said spokeswoman Angela Bourdon. “There are some psychiatrists who think war toys are positive for children, and that’s about it.”
But even though Toys R’ Us is unwilling to defend itself, a word could be said in its defense.
Of about 35 aisles of merchandise in its Eugene store, only three are devoted to war toys. And of 30 toys featured in a store ad in Wednesday’s Register-Guard, only six were war-like. So the company could hardly be accused of rampant militarism.
It’s also true that Freudian psychiatrists believe it’s healthy for children to vent aggressions through war-like play, according to Beverly Fagot, a University of Oregon psychology prof. But that doesn’t mean that Fagot, who’ll speak at Saturday’s fair, agrees.
Research indicates a possible connection between war toys and hostile behavior, she said, “but the (research) literature is back where the smoking literature was 35 years ago. We knew there were some relationships, but hadn’t pinned them down.”
Given that, Fagot said, “you can err on the side of caution or say, OK, it’s not provable, so we don’t have to do anything about it.’ My tendency is to err on the side of caution.”
That’s the theory behind the Peace Toy Fair.
“We want to present parents with alternatives, let them know that they do have a choice,” said Kearns. “There are alternatives that are just as much fun as they may think children are having with war toys.”
Kearns has an admitted vested interest. She sells the non-violent “Discovery” line of toys, which will be among items on sale Saturday. “But I’ve chosen to be in this business for philosophical reasons of my own,” she said.
Other booths at the fair will feature everything from general-interest toys to stuffed animals, wooden puzzles and crafts. In addition to Fagot’s 11 a.m. talk, there’ll be a parent panel discussion at 1 p.m.
In between, at noon, will come the war-toy burial. You’re asked to bring a violence-prone toy to drop into a “grave” at the end of the church parking lot.
The trick, of course, will be to get your kid’s Rambo machine gun into the hole without provoking a violent parent-child confrontation.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright 1986, The Register Guard, www.registerguard.com.