Ben manning his rapid-fire Nerf assault rifle
Most boys love weapons. Cross-bows, battle axes, harpoons, guns: they can’t get enough of them. The latest implements of war to be installed in our house are a full complement of Nerf guns. These are built like colourful assault weapons, with laser scopes, auto-loading mechanisms and support tripods. They shoot day-glo coloured Nerf bullets — not just one a time but in a steady stream of foam-rubber mayhem.
The boys love them and find them vastly entertaining. They delight in staging long-lasting wars with both their male and female friends. Adults tend to avoid such battles in case they show something truly alarming or distasteful about the development of their children.
We didn’t buy these Nerf guns for them (they were Christmas gifts from relatives) but we don’t lose much sleep over the implications of them being in our house. Nor are we too concerned about the possibility they will inflict severe psychic damage on our boys. Boys will be boys. We predict these boys are as likely to be attracted to a career in video production or on the stage of musical theatre as on the battlefield.
As when training dogs, the technique that seems to work best in the boys’ education is to praise the behaviour we wish to encourage and ignore that which we hope to discourage. Therefore, we tend to ignore this latest Nerf gun invasion. If we don’t talk too much about it, it might just go away — like every other toy that has crossed their path.
What is amusing is to consider where this development in toy design — giving boys exactly what they really want in their most-Rambo-esque fantasies — might lead. Combining the infinite resources of the military-industrial complex with the innovative minds in toy design is ripe with possibility.
We predict: Pretend IEDs by Fisher Price — ‘trip the plate and you’ll have an explosion of fun!’ Guided attack drones by Lego Mindstorms — ‘your little sister will never even hear it coming!’ or Fun-time Phosphorus Bombs by Play-Doh — ‘you’ll bust a gut when you see the agony on your playmates’ faces!’
