Child's Play--Or Something More?
The boys in my daughter's preschool enjoy a game that goes beyond normal
playground banter
By Mary Helen Berg
"Girl Trap? The game goes like this: a group of boys perch on the monkey bars
like hungry raptors, peer down and select a target, preferring ultrafeminine
girls with flowing locks and dresses. Once a girl is in their sights, they take
aim with imaginary lasers and "freeze" her. The 4- and 5-year-old boys discuss
tying her up, bashing her head, burying her in a pit, making her motionless and
powerless."
...
"The teacher agrees that the violent imagery of the game is offensive and
disturbing. She says Girl Trap is the first thing she has banned at her school
in two decades of teaching...."
Berg, a writer in Los Angeles, is the mother of two.
Newsweek, June 7, 1999
Excerpted by Linda Purrington
Title IX Advocates
lpurring@earthlink.net
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