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‘Would you give the child Jesus a toy gun?’


Parents and godparents making last-minute Christmas shopping on Thursday received a last-minute appeal from environment and peace advocates to scratch toy guns from their list of gifts for their children and godchildren. In an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site, the advocates - among them a senator and a former beauty queen - said parents should give a clear message that guns are not for play. “Giving toys that make violence seem like fun reinforces this negative learning even more," said Marie Marciano, a member of EcoWaste Coalition.

For many peace advocates, toy guns and replicas are definite no-nos in the gift lists for children. GMANews.TV
Marciano said people should understand that “the gifts we give on Christmas are really our gifts to the Prince of Peace whose birthday we are celebrating." "Would you even think of gifting the child Jesus with a toy gun?" she asked. Dr. Leah Samaco-Paquiz of Ang Nars, Inc., an association of nursing professionals, said that giving toy guns will make children imbibe the violence mentality until it becomes a habit and a way of life. "Then we produce a society of violent people," she said. EcoWaste Coalition president Manny Calonzo said parents can opt to give “age-appropriate and non-hazardous gifts that promote a culture of creativity, harmony, and peace, and not that of prejudice, war and violence." Tessa Oliva of Miriam PEACE noted that exposing children to toy guns "make gadgets of violence an ordinary part of life as if it were a normal thing to be used in life when in fact it can be hazard that can end life." The advocates said parents send conflicting messages to their kids when they tell them to stay away from trouble and violence, but then give them toy guns to play with.Parents should be reminded that the toys they give to children communicate the idea that they approve of those toys, they added. Lawyer Golly Estenzo-Ramos of the University of Cebu, College of Law, also pointed out toy guns may give children the message that it is okay to kill. "A gun is a tool of violence, of control and of domination. It smacks of destruction and lack of respect for the sanctity of life." Even Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. added his voice to those opposing the giving of toy guns as gifts. “Guns are made to kill. Their replicas symbolize the real thing. In the hands of children, toy guns condition their minds that it is alright to shoot and kill others," he said. Cathy Untalan of Miss Earth Foundation advised parents to “give gifts that reflect your dream future for your children and ones that will help your children realize this dream such as books and educational toys." - KBK, GMANews.TV
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