Violence is Not Child's Play
November 22, 2008
Seventeen volunteers participated in the ninth annual inspection of Winnipeg’s toy and department stores on Saturday, November 22, 2008.
The inspection was organized and carried out by Project Peacemakers volunteers, board members and staff.
Our goal, in carrying out these inspections is to raise awareness about the levels of violence in children’s toys and games and to call on retailers, government and the wider community to take steps to limit this violence. A growing body of evidence confirms that exposure to violent toys, games and media can 1) increase aggressive behaviour, 2) desensitize people to violence, and 3) contribute to an exaggerated fear of the world.
Our volunteers included parents, youth, young adults, and children. We visited fourteen stores, including major chain stores and small independent stores.
These are the kinds of things we were looking for:
· Whether in-store displays promoted violent toys,
· Whether they sold violent and militarized toys, and particularly if they were at eye-level for young children
· Whether toy guns were sold and how realistic they were,
· Whether violent electronic games were sold, how they were displayed.
Our findings were as follows:
In the category of excellent –
Hans Christian Toys, The Shop (Children's Museum)
In the category of commendable – Scholar’s Choice, Toad Hall, A Child’s Place, Dollarama
In the category of acceptable – Explore Store, Kite and Kaboodle, Costco, B J Super Toy Sales
In the category of needing improvement – Real Canadaian Superstore, Toys ‘R’ Us
In the category of unacceptable – Zellers, Wal-Mart
We are encouraged that there are many toy stores in Winnipeg that sell few toys that promote violent play. Every store contained at least some educational and creative toys. In the higher rated stores, it was difficult to find violent toys. At the same time, we were discouraged by the great number of violent toys and games that continue to be sold in some stores. Some stores lost points due to the placement of violent toys at the eye-level of very young children.
Where video games are sold, there continue to be an overwhelming number that contain violent and sexually explicit themes. In the stores that sold video games, the games were not organized by their rating category, which results in the “mature” games being placed alongside the “everyone” games, within reach of a young child.
We have several recommendations:
1) For the toy retailers, we ask for leadership and for commitment to help build a culture a peace. At a minimum, we ask that violent toys be removed from store windows and displays and from the view of young children. We ask that stores display prominent signage explaining the ESRB rating system for the sale of computer and video games, as mandated by provincial legislation.
2) For the Provincial Government: To educate parents about violent video games, their effects on children, and tools to use in order to choose appropriate games.
3) For the general public, especially parents and grandparents: Please be discerning about the kinds of toys and games you buy for your children. Patronize those stores which sell only nonviolent toys. Let your local toy store know if you object to certain products. Let the Manitoba Film Classification Board and the Entertainment Software Ratings Board know if you find a rating to be inappropriate for a specific video or computer game.
Our task seems even more compelling in the light of Canada’s offensive role in the war in Afghanistan, as well as the continuing war in Iraq, and terrorist attacks throughout the world. In a world that might seem more insecure and frightening to many North American children, it is even more urgent to provide them with a play environment that fosters creativity, wise choices, cooperation and problem-solving skills, rather that one which increases fear and aggression.
