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Summer/Fall 1999


Guns and Children:
Like Moths to a Flame

What do you think your pre-schooler would do if he or she found a real gun after being repeatedly warned not to touch a gun? Marjorie Hardy, a researcher and mother of a pre-schooler, was shocked by the unexpected results of two studies she conducted.

The first study brought a police officer into a class of 60 children. His message was very clear. "Dont touch guns theyre dangerous. If you see a gun, leave the area. Go tell an adult." The children could repeat his words and answer his questions. "But when left alone with disarmed guns, they picked them up and shot everything in sight," wrote Hardy in a New York Times editorial.

In the second study, a different group of children was instructed for five days on how to make good choices, how to resist peer pressure, and how to distinguish toys from dangerous objects. The results of the two studies were comparable: when left alone with disarmed guns, 65% of the children played with them.

Hardy asked the children if they thought the guns were toys. "Most of the 4-year-olds couldnt tell the difference between the real and the fake," she wrote. "About half of the 5-year-olds and most of the 6-year-olds could distinguish between the two. But they all played with the guns. Whats scarier a child not knowing whats safe and whats dangerous, or a child knowing the difference and playing anyway?"

According to Hardy, "Gun control laws are a start, but rules and warning alone are not going to keep children safe. Parents have to monitor their children closely and rethink their decision to own a gun. They need to know if guns are in the homes of their childrens friends."

"Would your child touch a gun?" Hardy asked in conclusion. "Mine did. Then he lied about it when asked. Thank goodness it wasnt loaded."

 



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