I have a few upcoming kids’ birthday parties, and I was considering gift options. Pyjamas? Nah, too boring. Books? Maybe good news for the parents, but a little yawn-worthy to a six year old. Maybe a Barbie? Too typical. Then it dawned on me – a replica AK-47.
What Mum or Dad wouldn’t love their child to have a fancy new assault rifle? I can’t imagine anyone not leaping for joy as they unwrapped a sparkling, shiny weapon.
Just think – you could teach little Johnny how to shoot people dead, or maim them with horrific injuries, or … actually, I’ve run out of really good reasons to gift a semi-automatic weapon to a child.
The picture today of a child holding a replica AK-47 in Sydney’s Martin Place makes me feel very uncomfortable.
Not just for the obvious reasons – the photo was taken metres from the site of a recent tragedy that shocked the entire country, but also for how comfortable the child looks with the gun in his hands. Look closely and you’ll see the little boy’s finger on the trigger, ready for his imaginary war – just chilling.
This isn’t comparable to Cowboys and Indians in the backyard. Children will always make weapon toys, even if their parents don’t buy them, yes – kids will be kids. But AK-47’s should be the hands of very few adults, let alone children.
Yet in 2015, there’s supposed to be no problem with a child brandishing a threatening looking weapon, particularly when it’s photographed metres from the tragic Sydney siege.
There are no life lessons that can be taught with a semi-automatic, beyond “they’re bad, they kill, steer clear of them.”
Fake cigarette lollies disappeared from our shelves (remember FAGS?) for a good reason. They normalised smoking as something fun and cute – ‘Let’s be like our chain-smoking Nana, and have a whole packet today!’
Illegal weaponry masked as ‘toys’ should disappear, too. Teaching kids that automatic or semi-automatic weapons are ok, is not ok. These are sensitive times, we are bombarded with stories of terror and tragedy, and rightly or wrongly, everything feels a little bit more tense than usual.
If you feel compelled to buy your child a toy that is both threatening and offensive to the larger population, just think again for a moment – maybe they’d be just as happy with a dress-up, a soccer ball, or a pad of paper and crayons.
Yes – let’s let kids be kids – and not consider weapons as toys.
