To Aikya on WAIT -- War Against Improper Toys

[Guest guest]

Aikya wrote:

 

....The idea is that new toys are donated. Children bring in their toys

that are related to war and violence and swap them for a new toy. It

was sugested that teenagers could turn in their violent video games

and music recordings in exchange for gift certificates to get

something else.

 

The name, alas, uses the word "war". This war and preparations for

war poison is so all-pervasive that we don't even see it in the name

for such a fine program. If anyone out there is inspired to copy this

idea, maybe you can come up with a better name for it.

 

Today I heard a wonderful talk with the theme "Don't Study War No

More."...

Dear Aikya ~ when I lived and worked in the DC area, one of the nonprofits I

worked for was called Handgun Control, Inc., a national organization. I was

"in charge of" the victims and the grassroots activists. One of my goals,

though, was to bring in the issue of children, and one of my jobs was to track

handgun deaths (via a news clipping service, coroners reports, etc.) the number

of people killed every month by handguns. I then had to prepare a monthly

press release about this that was sent to all of the Congress. This was

definitely a burn out job, and I only lasted 5 years. But as I was doing my

work, I

began to know how many children were dying, mostly from playing with real

guns and not understanding the difference between real guns and toy guns. We

began to do a special press release just on the children. After I left a whole

program was created having to do with educating parents and children about the

dangers of confusing toy and real guns and how to keep guns safely, locked,

secured, etc., where children couldn't get at them. There were several

communities who adopted the kind of toy exchange you mention, and I always

thought

it was wonder. It never ceased to amaze me, though, how the language of war

permeated so much of our promotional materials, like, in speaking of elected

officials, "hold their feet to the fire," and such.

 

People who do programs like to have a catchy acronym that people can use to

identify with the program. WAIT does a good job of that. But it is too bad, I

agree with you, that they put the word, "war," in the title. It is so

pervasive in our cultural psyches that we don't even know we are doing it. Also,

"Don't Study War No More" is a very well known among pacifist and

liberty/justice groups. It is an old folk song. Maybe we need a new one that

says, "Gonna

Study Peace From Now On." I hope this idea catches on. You might suggest

someone from the satsang contact Handgun Control, Inc. and it. They like

stories

about this kind of thing, and then spread these good ideas around via their

newsletters and info materials.

 

Blessings ~ Linda