Peg Tyre's extensive research into the nature of boys has led her to the conclusion that refraining boys from engaging in fantasy play that depicts violence can be a hinderance to their natural development. She believes that when little boys engage in fantasy play - even if they are pretending to kill their best friend - they are "playing at being the best, most compassionate, most heroic kind of men imaginable". I know that I am often struck by the violent nature of toys and video games marketed to boys and have bought into the popular assumption that it is the culture that breeds the desire for these items in boys; however, I too enjoyed these toys as a young boy and spent much of my play time playing good guy/bad guy with my other guy friends. I also spent some time playing video games where we hunted down a shot "the bad guy". Now it seems that such games - while readily available - are often made as the scape goat for explaining why boys today are more violent than their female counter parts. Tyre disagrees and believes that we are not serving our boys well when we discriminate against these forms of fantasy play.
Judging students based on the types of play that they engage in can create negative feelings within the child that could otherwise be avoided. It's one thing to chide Johnny for rough housing a student who did not want to be involved to teach Johnny how to socialize. It's anothe thing to break up a game in which all children are engaged and cooperating, simply because the content makes the adults somewhat uneasy. Such judgement can further create a disconnect between boys and the institutions that serve them.
I agree, I love wrestling and allowing boys to play when everyone is engaged and into the activity. But, what about parent reactions. I think parents now days treat their kids like glass and get so upset if they get a little banged up when at school or daycare. Therefore we as teachers spend all day saying "keep your hands to yourself".
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