Today I dropped of my son off at Paintball Birthday Party with his school friends - 10 and 11 year old messy boys.
I'd never been inside of a Paintball place before. I looked to the left and was shocked to see a shop stocked with what looks like very powerful guns and artillery. Of course they're just guns that shoot paint but it kind of turned my stomach.
If you're not familiar with the painball fab, the object is to simulate combat in a dark, camoflaged facilities but using paint pelletsrather than bullets.At the end of the game, all the kids are splattered with paint. It's all in good fun with good sportsmanship rules posted everywhere to keep the vibe light.
And yet...
I've always taught my son how horrible guns are; that they are the cause of so much horror in the world and that shooting someone means inflicting the most terrible physical pain on another human being.
And then I drop him off to play with guns for 3 hours with his buddies.
I don't want to ban him from playing what is, superficially, a super fun afternoon for him and his buddies. But I also don't him him associated guns with play. As an aside, the last time my husband dropped my son at a paintball party, he joined in the fun and had a just as much fun as the kids getting paint-splattered.
What do you think? Am I over-reacting? How would you handle this situation? Keep him home from the party? Lecture him before about the evils of war? Or just let him be a boy and enjoy the paintball adventure?
"
Printer-friendly version