Toys of war
Sir,—“Violent toys stocked to meet demand” runs the headline (September 10). And whence the demand? Through extensive advertising on TV and other media; through peer pressure — one child “cons” his parents into buying one of these wondrous, lethal look-alikes and the mates follow suit. We will probably see the Rambo doll, plus velvet-doll Nukie which has the rights and powers of a thermo-nuclear war, in our shops in time for our annual season of peace and good will. In America, since 1982, the range of war toys has increased 350 per cent, according to a representative of Play for Life, and New Zealand seems to be playing that old-fashioned game of follow-the-leader. The owner of a Dunedin toy shop has had the courage to start the campaign rolling against such warlike toys by refusing to stock them. Who will be the starter in Christchurch? — Yours, etc., JILL WILCOX. September 10, 1986.
Sir, — The shopkeepers who say (September 10) that they have to stock super-violent toys like the Rambo doll in order to meet the demand have only to join forces and collectively decline them and there will be no demand. People will then spend their money on something more wholesome. On the other hand, those who defy public feeling in this International Year of Peace, amid the universal condemnation of violent toys by the promoters of early childhood education,
may find they are shunned, boycotted or picketed. And how will that help their trade? — Yours, etc.,
ELSIE LOCKE. September 11, 1986.
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Press, 12 September 1986, Page 16
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254Toys of war Press, 12 September 1986, Page 16
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