war toy chest
by elizabeth roebling

I eyed the glossy catalogue from Toys ‘R’ Us for three days with trepidation. Last spring I had been driven to the point of a public demonstration at the Rose’s Department Store in Weaverville over the violence in toyland. Nestled in the Easter baskets next to the chocolate eggs, all wrapped in gold cellophane, were foot-high soldiers in combat gear. I took three baskets off the shelves and held up a line of ten shoppers while I asked that the manager please take these out of circulation since war is not a game. It was quite a scene.

For years, many groups have been organizing and protesting the marketing and sale of toys that promote violence, particularly to the under 12- market. One friend of mine was absolutely certain that no son of hers would ever play with a gun—until she had a son. Then she found that he would simply pick up a stick and make his own gun out of it, mock shooting down his 2 year-old enemies. Evidently the American fascination with guns starts in the hospital delivery room. What is a mother to do?

The Lion and the Lamb Project (lionlamb.org) educates and informs both parents and government on the effects of media violence and war toys on children. Last Christmas, they assisted in a vast Internet protest against JC Penny’s for advertising, on the store’s website, a toy named “Forward Command Post”. This was a gruesome wreckage of a doll house, little furnishings all in pieces, weapons strewn in each room, including the upstairs bedrooms which had blood on the walls. Outside the “Post” stood a model soldier in full battle regalia, bayonet fixed. JC Penny was charging $49 for this and included the information that it was safe for “ages 3+”. You can rest assured that I forwarded that e-mail and wrote to the store. Imagine the happy American family sitting around the living room after a sumptuous Christmas dinner watching little Susie play “wipe out the enemy children in their beds.”

Never doubt the power of the American consumer. By December 17, JC Penny had removed this atrocity from their website.

The Christian Peace Makers Team (cpt.org) has a Toy Store Rating Sheet on its web site and offers ten points to define violent toys. Among these are that the toys require children to use violence to win, equate survival with attacking, winning and being dominant and reinforce stereotypes of male dominance and/or female passivity. Every year the CPT volunteers stage a protest at a Chicago toy store. Dressed as Santa and the Elves, they roll shopping carts through the aisles and take down all the violent toys, announcing that there has been a mistake at the North Pole and that these were not intended for children. Santa & Co. are followed by the Three Wise Men who explain games of cooperation and peace-building and an Angelic Choir who sing Christmas Carols. It seems a lovely, gentle and entertaining protest.

I mustered my courage and opened the toy store catalogue. I am both astonished and very pleased to report that the Toys ‘R’ Us catalogue that arrived with my Sunday paper contained not one single violent toy. Bravo to each and every one of us who has ever had a wish, a hope, or a prayer for peace on earth. And may we all have a Very Merry.

Elizabeth Eames Roebling is a long time peace and social justice activist, having started marching with the Congress of Racial Equality when she was 14. Local readers may have heard her commentaries on local NPR affiliate,WNCW, when she signed off “this is Elizabeth Eames, coming to you from the mountains of Barnardsville.” After completely her dozen years on the mountain, she has moved to West Asheville.