Now there is a controversial heading if ever I saw one. However, psychologists are now coming to the view that suppressing a young boys natural play habits could have serious long term consequences.

A new document issued by the Department for Children, Schools and Families said children should be encouraged to take part in play which "involves more action".(http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

The gap in education standards between boys and girls is growing and growing at an alarming rate. Some of this has been tracked back to when 'political correctness' took over and parents, schools and sociologists called for the bans on guns, tanks, toy soldiers and the like. One psychologist has been quoted as saying:

To tell a boy that playing with a guns is bad can have consequences. It is often difficult to understand a child's reasoning processes, however, if the child thinks that playing with a gun is bad, and the child likes playing with a gun, then he, the child, must also be bad.

Boys have a naturally aggressive nature. They also have a great imagination when it comes to play. I remember my young days when we played 'cowboys and indians'. Or we played out our own war games. The truth is many generations of males grew up playing with these toys - they certainly did not become overly aggressive adults - in fact the youth of today is far more aggressive than my generation and that is without these toys.

Boys do need to be boys. They need to play in a fashion which is natural - not forced into unnatural play. By being inventive, using their innate tendencies they learn to grow. Education becomes more interesting. With that, one would hope, the gap between boys and girls would fall. Boys may also get some of the aggression out of their systems early.

Surely the key here is not to stop our young children from playing with these toys but to educate them. As they get older teach them the responsibilities and consequences of some of their toys. The one thing I find interesting in this debate is that girls, in their preteen era, are far more aggressive than boys. They are also taught consequences when playing with their dolls etc, especially in this day and age when they can be feed the doll and have the doll wee itself.

The 'do good' campaigns of the eighties are now coming home to bite us - I wonder which of their holly grails will come unstuck next - smacking, kids rights (no responsibilities) - who knows - do you?



Other articles from the Baby series:

Baby's First Days At Home
How To Get Your Baby To Settle
Handling A Newborn's First Cough And Cold
The First Moments Of Your Baby's Life
Why Babies Cry
Cord Blood Banking