Boys in nursery schools should not be discouraged from playing with toy guns and other weapons, the government says.

In guidance for nurseries in England, the Department for Children, Schools and Families says staff should resist a "natural instinct" to stop such play.
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Teachers have condemned the advice, saying toy guns "symbolise aggression".

in which case the government is showing sense and the teachers are full of crap

' "natural instinct" to stop such play ' -- they are just being boys

playing with guns, toy swords and fighting is not about learning to be aggressive but about learning how to cope with aggression and negotiate a social hierarchy. By using violence literally or symbolically boys are reenacting a stage of our social evolution when hierarchies were established through physical aggression (in certain geopolitical contexts we still haven't escaped that ) but largely now in the 21st century we have established better strategies, better morally and better for the health of society and social cohesion

i would certainly let my sons play with toy guns and i would try and get them to learn a martial art (similarly daughters) because i think it is better to redirect rather than suppress instincts

BBC NEWS | Education | Toy weapons 'help boys to learn'