Why We Should Allow Boys to Fight - Intellectual Takeout"...After all,
why would we want to encourage violence, combat, and a warrior mentality in an age when it seems like violence lurks around every turn?
But
has this resistance to fights and other rough-and-tumble forms of play become detrimental to the male sex? Some research suggests such is the case.
In her book,
The War Against Boys, Christina Hoff Sommers notes that males are increasingly deprived of their favorite forms of play, such as “‘toy weapons, wrestling, shoving, and imaginary explosions and crashes,’”
largely because many women have condemned such violent behavior. But as Sommers explains, such behavior is
necessary for the proper development of boys into upstanding young men:
- “Anthony Pellegrini, a professor of early-childhood education at the University of Minnesota, defines rough-and-tumble play (R&T) as a behavior that includes ‘laughing, running, smiling, jumping, open-handed beating, wrestling, play fighting, chasing and fleeing.’ This kind of play is often mistakenly regarded as aggression, but according to Pellegrini, R&T is the very opposite. … Rough-and-tumble play brings boys together, brings them joy, and is a critical part of their socialization. ‘Children who engaged in R&T, typically boys, also tended to be liked and to be good social problem solvers,’ says Pellegrini.” ..."
