Features
A teacher’s perspective:
“Bad guys” and weapon play at school
continued
Q. How can you intervene in “bad
guy” and weapon play?
A. Consider these suggestions:
 Set
rules for “bad guy” and weapon play. In my class,
children may choose to play any character, but the character
must not use weapons or behave aggressively while at school.
Our primary aim is to keep all the children safe and make sure
all the children feel safe while
at school. We don’t allow weapon play at school because
we promote solving problems verbally and nonviolently.
Model
and teach nonviolent, verbal problem solving. We teach children to solve
problems by using words instead of fighting or shooting. Ellen Church (2003)
recommends asking questions: “If the good guys lost their weapons and
couldn’t fight, how could they still win?”
Get
involved in the play. Take on a role and have your character extend the play
by modeling powerful, but nonviolent play scripts, actions, and solutions.
Your influence can also add a new, creative element to the play. I remember
a group of girls who were upset that there were no female Ninja Turtles.
I explained that the Ninja Turtles were named after famous male artists.
We did some research on female artists and then created two new turtles.
Frida (Kahlo) and Georgia (O’Keefe). We even wrote a letter sharing
our creative solution to the Ninja Turtle creators but they never answered
the letter.
Encourage
children to talk about their feelings. “Take a quiet moment (not during
play) to talk about what you observed in his play and invite him to share
his feelings. You might say, ‘When I see you make an explosion with
your toys, I wonder what you are feeling. It’s okay to have angry or
frustrated feelings and it helps to talk about them’” (Church
2003).
Find
a positive theme in the negative play. One year we made a lot of pizzas and
studied artists (Leonardo, Raphael, for example) when the Ninja Turtles were
showing up at school on a daily basis. We even had a dramatic play pizza
delivery service on the playground after I asked the children how the Ninja
Turtles got the money to buy all those pizzas.
Redirect
play to safer, more constructive themes. See the TRUCE (Teachers Resisting
Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) web site for their ideas: www.truceteachers.org.
Q. What else can you do to prevent
or decrease violent play?
A. For your own classroom,
consider the following:
Listen
to children and ask what they think about weapons and “bad
guys.” “I think weapons are the strongest things” is
a child’s quote from one of the books I read to prepare
for this article. If we find out what children think, then
we have a better idea how to make them feel safe and to redirect
their interests and their play to more positive themes. This
year we did a web and asked children to tell what they liked
about their play. The most popular answer was pretending to
be the powerful characters. After reading The
True Story of the Three Little Pigs, my talented practice
teacher followed up by reading many other variations on this
theme (The Big Bad Wolf Is Good, The Three
Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, The Fourth Little Pig)
and talking about how all the characters had different ideas
and different feelings.
Read
books that help children talk about feelings and conflict resolution. I like
the “Selection of Children’s Books for the Peaceable Classroom” from
Diane Levin (2003).
Q. How do you help parents deal
with violent play at home?
A. Beyond the classroom, it’s
important to get support from parents and the community.
Encourage
parents to rethink exposure to media violence. Suggest ways to set limits
on which programs children watch and reconsider how much time children spend
viewing TV and movies with violent content. Mention the potential problems
from exposing children to the violence of TV and radio news programs.
Explain
to parents the value of watching TV with their children and discussing what
the children see and hear. Help children learn the difference between fantasy
and reality by talking about how television shows, cartoons, and videos are
created.
Suggest
that parents look for powerful, nonviolent main characters when selecting
TV programs, videos, and books.
Suggest
that parents turn off the TV or video game and do something active with their
children: reading a book, tossing a ball, dancing to music, going for a walk,
dramatizing a favorite story, or playing dinosaurs.
Remember
that consumers of children’s products have influence. I have helped
many children write letters to the authors of children’s books and
creators of children’s television shows. You and parents can send an
email message or a letter to the managers of local TV stations. You can also
contact the writers or creators of a favorite show and ask about special
effects or individual characters. See sample letters on the TRUCE web site.
Look
for resources that share your point of view. Educate yourself so you can
educate other parents and community leaders. One resource is the Lion & Lamb
Project, whose objective is to stop the marketing of violence to children.
See www.lionlamb.org. Another resource is Leah Yarrow’s article, “Should
children play with guns?” in Parents magazine,
January 1983, pages 95-96, available in library back issue files.
Q. What else can I do to help
reduce “bad guy” and gun play?
A. Try some of the following
suggestions—for the sake of children and families everywhere.
Offer
a parenting workshop on the topic.
Organize
a Violent Toy Trade-In, nonviolent toy fair, or Peaceable Play Day.
Develop
an annual children’s program focusing on different traditions of nonviolence.
Tell the children about the lives and actions of nonviolent heroes and heroines.
(Many children now think that a “hero” is a violent creature
who goes out and kills people, like popular cartoon characters.)
Help
children plant a Peace Garden or a Peace Pole as a visual reminder of their
desire for peace. See “Teaching children about peace,” Texas
Child Care, Fall 2002.
Create
an art project that focuses on nonviolence and can later be displayed in
your school, such as a peace quilt, mural, or sculpture.
Make
it a policy not to accept violent toys and games if you are involved in a
toy collection for less fortunate children.
—Adapted from “What you can do,” www.lionlamb.org/school.htm.
References
American
Psychological Association. 1993. Violence & Youth:
Psychology’s Response. Vol. 1, Summary Report of the
American Psychological Association Commission on Violence and
Youth. Washington, D.C.: APA. ED379056.
Church,
E.B., and J. David. n.d. “When good kids play the “bad guy”:
How power play helps kids feel in control of their world.” Parent
and Child Magazine, Retrieved October 19, 2003, from www.scholastic.com/earlylearner/age4/social/
goodkidsbadguy.htm.
Derman-Sparks,
Louise and the A.B.C. Task Force. 1989. The Anti-Bias
Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children. Washington, D.C.:
National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Levin,
D.E. 1998. Remote Control Childhood? Combating the Hazards
of Media Culture. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education
of Young Children.
Levin,
D.E. 2003. Teaching Young Children in Violent Times:
Building a Peaceable Classroom. 2nd ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Educators
for Social Responsibility.
Marion,
M. 2002. Guidance of Young Children. 6th ed.
Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Salaby,
Ronald; Wendy Rodelll; Diana Arezzo; and Kate Hendrix. 1995. Early
Violence Prevention: Tools for Teachers of Young Children. Washington,
D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
About the author
P.D. Jolley has been teaching young children since 1985 and college classes
since 1988. Currently she is a master teacher working with 4- and 5-year-olds
at the University of Texas Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Laboratory
and an adjunct faculty member at Austin Community College. |
