stephanie
12-28-2007, 11:07 PM
Nicola Woolcock
Boys should be allowed to play with toy weapons at nursery, according to government advice that contradicts guidance from police and teachers.
Ministers do not mention toy guns specifically but they claim that some form of “weapons play” could help to engage boys in education.
However, teachers said that the guidance, published today, had no basis in educational practice, could encourage aggression among pupils and would anger and confuse parents.
Children have been suspended from school previously, or even arrested, when caught playing with toy guns.
The advice, from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, says that nursery staff should ignore their “natural instinct” to stop young boys playing games with weapons. It says that such activities can help to engage them.
Boys begin falling behind girls in education before they have even started school and the Government is desperate to tackle this pattern. Its guidance says: “Images and ideas gleaned from the media are common starting points in boys’ play and may involve characters with special powers or weapons. Adults can find this type of play particularly challenging and have a natural instinct to stop it.
read the rest..
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article3105782.ece
Boys should be allowed to play with toy weapons at nursery, according to government advice that contradicts guidance from police and teachers.
Ministers do not mention toy guns specifically but they claim that some form of “weapons play” could help to engage boys in education.
However, teachers said that the guidance, published today, had no basis in educational practice, could encourage aggression among pupils and would anger and confuse parents.
Children have been suspended from school previously, or even arrested, when caught playing with toy guns.
The advice, from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, says that nursery staff should ignore their “natural instinct” to stop young boys playing games with weapons. It says that such activities can help to engage them.
Boys begin falling behind girls in education before they have even started school and the Government is desperate to tackle this pattern. Its guidance says: “Images and ideas gleaned from the media are common starting points in boys’ play and may involve characters with special powers or weapons. Adults can find this type of play particularly challenging and have a natural instinct to stop it.
read the rest..
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article3105782.ece