The unexpected result of watching "The Muppet Movie" with HR was that it introduced him to guns. I never before thought about my boy and his relationship to weapons until the scene in the beginning of the movie where Fozzie's trying to entertain a bunch of ruffians and one of them expresses his displeasure by taking a shot at the hapless Muppet. "What's that?" my boy asked. Hmmm. "A gun," I told him, just throwing it out there, and he didn't ask any more questions and we went about our evening. We didn't even make it to the part at the end with the frog executioner, and it's OK with me if we don't for years.
The experience really threw me for a loop. When does awareness of weapons and violence become the norm? Does it creep in little by little? Is it when he goes to school? The first time we let him watch "Star Wars"? It hadn't occurred to me that he wasn't just born knowing that there are guns. I'm not sure where to go with all this. Mike and I are not gun owners or enthusiasts. I have opinions about gun ownership, for example I don't know why anyone would want to own something like an assault weapon let alone feel entitled to it, but it's a very complicated issue that I'm not planning to fully explore right now. I don't have the answer. Guns are scary as hell, but they also have their place. I guess my hope is that their place doesn't turn out to be in his hands, but ultimately, it's my responsibility to make sure he grows up with a respect for what a weapon can do. And it looks like the conversations will start earlier than I had imagined. I guess I'll go with the whole, "be honest but don't give too much information before he's ready" tactic. Parenting: the adventure continues!
I don't condone violence, as a rule. But I love Cypress Hill. Too much paradox for a Tuesday morning.
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