Just to even up the ledger, I've got a slight crush on CJ.

HRS, I think the education system was dumned down for girls. Also, girls are really the violent ones. No feminist in the whole world has ever said a positive thing about boys or men. The incidence of marital rape in Australia is zero. More women abuse men than men abuse women,but you won't find a feminist saying that. More women than men abuse children. No men read men's magazines, it is women who like to look at other women with boob jobs in low cut dresses. You suffer a lot of verbal abuse in these forums, yet you never give it out to anyone. You are a better person than other people, because you are not an "ist" and do not believe in an "ism".

Your thoughts?

Re the topic, I'm glad to hear it. I enjoy playing with water pistols and pretend guns with several young men of my acquaintance, and always thought it was ridiculous of one of said young men's mother (he'd three, she's my mate) to dislike it. Does she think he will actually grow up to be Buffalo Bill? Good to see people being unafraid of male agression.*

* But you will never hear a feminist say that. Oh damn. I am a feminist. HRS, ignore this.

Wow, I must be doing something right :)

Timkins/HRS seems a little rattled and Leigh's living up to his self-description (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=6728#101125) admirably. Poor dears.

On the other hand, a couple of OLO's perspicacious women contributors are saying nice things to and about me on this and the 'Zoo' thread. I'm truly flattered and gratified.

Weather permitting, I'll be offline for a while after Monday. I'm taking my 11 y.o. daughter camping and trout fishing in the New England area for as long as we can manage it, thence to spend some time with my older daughter and grandson in the Byron area.

No guns will be involved, toy or otherwise, but there'll be a fair bit of fishing, bushwalking and messing about in boats.

Have a nice time in my absence - and Timmy, you really should get some help. I'm afraid Leigh's beyond it.

Botheration,
You can have a crush on a SJF if you want, but I looked up a dictionary for a word used by SJF in their last post, and it was described as being “vulgar”.

However if you want to attempt to misquote me, then that is a little different.

The situation is that girl’s marks have hardly improved in 20-30 years, while boy’s marks have declined in that period of time

From what I have seen so far, there are very few teachers with a poor attitude towards girl students, but many teachers with a poor attitude towards the boy students, with a considerable question as to whether teachers are actually being trained to have a poor attitude, or a dismissive attitude towards boy students

I wonder if any of you sit back and listen too yourselves. Its really interesting! But back too the subject!(boys and guns) The world is paranoid, and I hope you all get-well soon. "The parent is totally responsible for the out-come of their children". I have five of them, and even my six year old can have a logical conversational input to a soft question. But we try not-to hide anything from them. My kids love water pistols, but they don't want to really kill someone. How do i know? cause I have asked them. Communication is the key!

"We must trust the richness of children’s ideas, the report says; not impose our own."

Where do they get their ideas from if not from adults. If adults didn't 'play' with guns - or make endless numbers of violent films and TV dramas and even cartoons that are about violence, where would they get such ideas in the first place? Is this fixation with violence by adults not imposing? It shows many children never really grow up and lack imagination for how to stimulate children.

Adults set the example and increasingly the examples we are providing children are not very good ones at all. Ideas like this and such overt support for such daft ideas is crazy. Why do you think teenage gun crime in the UK is an increasing occurrence and beginning emulate the US?

SJF, you raise a very valid point. As a culture in the past going to war was glorified. I can remember the old news reels saying they go away boys and come back men.

In part this was to convince the young and naive to go to war and risk injury or death.

It was not until I watch 'Born of the 4th of July' did I realise that going to war is an horrendous experience which deeply affected the men who went. A work colleague recently told me about her ex military husband who went to a country as a peace keeper and how watching civiilans being hacked to death and being powerless to stop it had affected him.

Dane and Jolanda, I agree with what you write.

"Girls and women, of course, are never portrayed negatively. They are seen as strong and independent, in control, and able to achieve anything. The same message is not received by boys. They are not VALUED as girls are. And they KNOW this."

Jolanda, what I understand that you are saying is that nobody is prepared to put limits on rough and hazardous behaviour. I guess in part that this is boys acting out against what they preceive is the unfair treatment they recieve at school and perhaps even in society.