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Report RE: superhero and gun play
Original Post
RE: superhero and gun play - 14-01-09 08:25
by: Karine
Love this topic!
Everyone needs a superhero in their life!! - For your dissertation their are gender issues to be explored - is it just boys that look as if they are hurting people by violence through their play? Are they actually hurting friends or just being boisterous, jumping, shouting expending energy as boys have always done?- also superhero play is excellent to explore with children - using discussion of good and bad behaviour, peoples feelings - its the way practitioners handle and help children explore this play that matters. Girls use superheroes in a different way, although outwardly not as boisterous they often manipulate freindships and scenarios that also can have a negative effect on the child's outcome. - Children learn from role models around them. If practitioners were on hand to support this type of play, the children would learn an enormous amount about freindships, expected behaviour and outcomes of negative behaviour. At our setting we encourage superhero play, particularly for boys, outside I can guarantee that although we do not specifically supply guns/knives they always appear in their play - it is how we manage this when it happens. In 10 years we have never had a child physically hurt through this play (I know hard to believe!) as we have always supplied sufficient positive role play areas to support their interests - we have made our own superhero up - which encouraged looking after people young and old.
You can not overall protect a child from what is LIFE - we have soldiers (think about those working with children from parents who come from this background) How would you enable them to explore their parents work and background in a positive light? It would be wrong not to explore it.....also one day this child may have a strong belief to protect his country, which is his right to do so....this is real life our history is benchmarked with war and many superheroes.
Although you can not protect throughout life you can provide them with understanding of right and wrong and this certainly has been explored through our superhero play. I find that also female practitioners are the ones that often shy away or are horrified at the thought of having to allow such play. But check out research on this and I think it may broaden minds.
Please note I am not advocating violence in any way .
Cant wait to see other discussions on this