Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Iraqi Kids Playing War Games response
I found this article to be very interesting while I was reading it. I never knew how much of an impact the Iraqi war had on the children living there. It doesn't affect us as much in the United States because we don't see the terrorists and suicide bombers in day to day life. That terrible life is all that surrounds those poor kids. I could never imagine growing up in such circumstances. The part about the toy store owner shocked me. He said about 95 percent of the toys he sells are guns. This number is absolutely staggering. The kids come in looking for "the biggest and most harmful toy guns." It is even more surprising that some of the parents think this is totally normal and harmless. If all the violence is what the kids are soaking up, they are more likely to become violent towards everyone else around them. In the end of the article, the author talks about how the children are frustrated and refuse to do their work. This is because they think that they will have the same fate as so many others before them: getting displaced or killed. In my opinion, the parents of these children need to realize that these "games" are having no positive effect. I would never sit back and let my child go to the extreme to make up that they are killing others. They need to be reinforced of all the people that love them and are trying to help them escape that terrible life. I would never stand for my child to act out more violence than they are already exposed to.
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I had the same surprised and horrified reaction when I read this article. I also was unaware of the devastating reality and circumstances that these children must grow up in. We see images of terrorism in the Middle East on the news, but it does not really register that for these people, this is day to day life. These children do not wake up anticipating a fun filled day full of learning but instead expect one dominated by struggle, violence, and survival. Throughout history, children have played fighting games, such as cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, etc. These are innocent games that build the imagination. However, the games being played by the Iraqi children are mimicking the real life scenarios they are being exposed to on a daily basis. The opposing groups they pretend to be can be seen fighting just down the street or in the next neighborhood. They are their actual enemies. Aren’t these games proving the fact that these children are being programmed to hate and retaliate against their neighbors? How will they behave towards these same people when they are adults?
ReplyDeleteI also feel that such violent games have no positive outcomes. With such high percentages of children buying guns and pretending to kill people, the violence will no doubt be translated in some way to the way that they live their daily lives. These children portray things that happen in their everyday lives and that they are forced to witness. If parents allow their children to behave this destructively while "playing"... will they really turn out to be any different when they're not playing?
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