IS knows no bounds

Beyond sickening, no words can express the revulsion I feel.

Many 'armies' use child soldiers. Children can be moulded and their idea of the norm controlled so that they become heartless killers.

Indeed yes vampirequeen. It is both terrifying and terrible.

I am sure there are many of us on GN with DGC of a similar age thinking how precious our DGC are to us and find this heartbreaking but it is so much easier to brainwash a child than it is an adult in many situations.

What these 'little soldiers' will do is perpetuate the terrorism we are trying to put a stop to today.

I loathe the people who would do this to a child.

Sigh.

I am also concerned about the children here who might still be awake when these dreadful "executions" are broadcast on the news - when I was young little boys (mainly) used to reenact cowboy movies (bang, bang - you're dead) - how dreadful it would be if they started reenacting these horrific terrorist actions.

yes. I saw that video on the net. Put it out of your head. There is nothing we can do about it. Don't let it haunt you.

I hope little boys won't do that Mishap. I don't think they will. Mine prefer to act out the good guys - armed police usually. There's no harm in it.

Whether or not that video is authentic we all know it is a fact children have been/are used in such a barbaric way.

It not only applies to IS , they are the most recent group of cowards and animals who see their children as doing there dirty work for them.

Lord knows we all know of the conflicts in the Congo etc. that did/does the same.

IS and those who put explosive jackets on liitle children, make children murder and even rape are sub-human and as I have called it before have only one faith 'My way or death'.

Yes it is barbaric. Unfortunately human beings have throughout history committed barbaric acts and children are sometimes enlisted into that barbarity.

jingle Are armed police or soldiers always the "good guys"? I think it's a shame that violent toys and games are seen as acceptable entertainment for children.

Oh right. So what would you like young boys to play with? Pink fairy frocks and My Little Pony?

Get real.

God knows what we'd do without the armed police, in the situations cropping up at the moment.

jingle Probably one of the reasons we have violence and wars is that it is accepted and portrayed as being a perfectly normal, sane and sensible way of settling differences.

I can't see what's wrong with little boys playing with My Little Pony, pink fairy frocks, etc., along with - if they so choose - Lego, bricks, railway engines, cars, etc.,- ditto for girls. Do you actually go along with the idea that certain toys are acceptable for girls and certain other toys are acceptable for boys?

Yes.

Although some toys, of course, are either/or. My elder GS loves his kayak more than anything else on earth at the moment, except perhaps for the cuddly dog he has had from birth. The younger one is into anything Internet connected, plus the furry animal thing that talks back to him.

And they both enjoy playing with their Nerf guns.

I'm happy with that.

I would have no problem with a boy playing with girls' toys. Whatever makes them happy at the time.

I worry that our children will see the world in a very black and white way. When I was teaching we did a circle about what we wanted to be when we grew up. A lot of the boys wanted to be soldiers. When asked why one said it was because he wanted to kill Iraqis (the war was taking place at the time). I pointed out that one of the boy's best friends in the class was an Iraqi. He was amazed and asked his friend if it was true. Of course it was. Suddenly the whole class saw that not all Iraqis were the enemy.

It was you, jingl, who said what would we expect boys to play with....?

I remember when I was teaching, vampire, having Irish boys walking the corridors shouting Bobby Sands, and saying they would kill the British soldiers. I reminded them that my brother was a soldier and trying to keep the peace, like he had done in Aden and Cyprus and Germany. That was different because he was my brother, they said, but they had no idea what he looked like.

Still totally

[shrug]

What's Iraqi people and Bobby Sands got to do with the price of potatos/fish?

Never mind.

Okay, jingl, don't worry your head about it.