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My husband is taking our oldest son and his friends to play paintball for his 14th birthday next month. The place they are going has an indoor "field" with buildings and structures and whatnot, and requires protective head gear, a thermal mask, a chest plate, and they give you coveralls to wear over your clothing. They recommend that you wear layers, gloves to protect your hands, and thick shoes or boots. The paint they use is non-toxic and biodegradable but it will stain. We are OK with this sort of play for this age, and my son and his friends are really looking forward to it. My husband is, too! This place charges $35 per player for two and a half hours of play - this includes the protective gear that they wear, the paintball "marker" (what they call the paintball gun), the CO2, and 350 rounds of paint. You can buy extra paint if you need it.
I do my best to keep the violent play to a minimum at home. We do not allow bloody/gory video or PC games and we don't allow plastic guns, pop guns, swords, fighting toys, etc... But, at 14 they - hopefully - have learned the difference between right and wrong, appropriate and not appropriate. It's OK to do the paintball thing, it's not OK to go get a real gun and shoot your friends with it! That sort of thing... I wouldn't suggest this sort of play for a younger child, but I think 14 is a fine age for this. it might even help them work out some anxiety and stress. Their puberty hormones are running amok... boys at this age need as many outlets as we can help them find!
ETA...I was one of those moms who, when my son was a baby, said "no toy guns"......until Legos and even Barbies became weapons...to some extent it's just a boy thing (don't start, I know not all boys and some girls but OVERALL.....) and honestly, DS is a very non-agressive kid socially....
I am a "no toy guns" mom, too! Or, at least I was!! So my boys have always made their play guns with tinkertoys... lincoln logs... playdough... sticks... whatever was around at the time! I'd say, "Ooooh... I don't like guns, we don't play with guns, let's do something else..." Whatever, mom! Five minutes later they've found a bigger, badder, "stick"...
I hate to sound sexist or anything but, being the mother of two boys... I really want to say "it's just a boy thing!" That's why I say I do my best to limit it... but really there's no way of excluding it altogether.
Now we're at the point with our boys - 9 and almost 14 - where we're thinking of taking some gun safety classes so we can all learn how to use guns safely. We're still not sure we want one in the home, but my husband has recently expressed interest in learning to hunt. The boys have been asking for guns for a long time as all their friends have bb guns and paintball guns. It's just part of the culture, guns are everywhere. Can't escape it... so we might as well learn about them the right way and learn how to deal with them as safely as we can.
I really want to say "it's just a boy thing!" That's why I say I do my best to limit it... but really there's no way of excluding it altogether.
No there isn't. As long as they understand the difference between a healthy outlet for all of that
testosterone and an unhealthy one. They are masculine creatures, let them develop that part of their beings
Actually it's adjustable, most places have you check your marker's setting before you go into the field and adjust if the muzzle speed shows too high.
Sorry, I've got to clarify here... because they are not all adjustable. MOST of them have adjustable muzzle velocity, but there are some (especially the cheap markers) that don't have the ability to be adjusted.
As with most any activity your child will want to do, supervision and parental involvement are key. I have 4 boys, and my oldest (16) is very much into paintball as a fun weekend activity and has played for a few years. Next two down, ages 12 and 13 have played also and have their own markers--though not nearly as high tech as DS-1. In fact, when my husband was coaching their little league fb team, they used a paintball outing as a team building activity, with all the coaches and as many dads who wanted to come along and EVERY ONE of them had a BALL! One dad is even an FBI sniper in real life...so everyone wanted him on their team, LOL!
Anyways, my point is, stay involved, have some fun, see what it's like before you tell your son, "NO" to the "gun games." I too was/am a staunch no toy guns mom.....and when one of the boys began to point with his ELBOW as a gun, I realized it's just part of the DNA.
We have a teenaged boy who comes and works with us on school breaks. He's now 17, started here when he was 14 (tagging along on service calls). He was big int paintball then and now plays on a team that won some kind of champoinship... dunno all the details. Anyways.... he is a good kid and this is good fun for him. He is responsible for his own supplies. He always talks fondly of the experience and while he has had bruises, he hasn't been injured in a way that requires a doctor's attentions ( and his momma is slightly paranoid on his health, so that is saying alot)
I believe teenagers (especially boys) need to have a hobby. My son's is music, this boy's is paintball. The teenagres out there without a focus tend to be the ones getting into trouble.
I believe teenagers (especially boys) need to have a hobby. My son's is music, this boy's is paintball. The teenagres out there without a focus tend to be the ones getting into trouble.
As with most any activity your child will want to do, supervision and parental involvement are key.
Anyways, my point is, stay involved, have some fun, see what it's like before you tell your son, "NO" to the "gun games." I too was/am a staunch no toy guns mom.....and when one of the boys began to point with his ELBOW as a gun, I realized it's just part of the DNA.
It sounds like there are a LOT of kids into paintball. I wasn't aware. Around here it isn't so big.
I need to disagree with something here. Parental involvement and supervision with most any activity a child does is not such a good thing. Kids need to be able to learn how to handle themselves on their own, and if it can't be through play, then how? Why do kids need to be supervised and have parents around to supervise ALL the time? Kids never learn to trust themselves and their own capabilities, and aren't ever able to really be kids without the fear of making mistakes seen by the adults hovering and supervising. They cannot learn to correct themselves if there is an ever present adult doing it for them.
Aside from that, all kids have that desire to play cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, etc.. There's nothing wrong with toy guns. It wasn't until toy guns disappeared that so many real ones began to take their place in society. Think about that.
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