In the current social climate, there are good reasons not to try banning war play:

• doing so is virtually impossible when children are bombarded by violent images in their daily lives;
• there is a danger in encouraging a child to feel guilty about the way he wants to play, and a risk of forcing him into sneaking access to what is popular and feeling guilty about it; and
• banning any kind of play ignores a fundamental aspect of healthy development--children need to be in control of how they play.

At the same time, simply unqualifiedly allowing war play, without at the same time promoting healthy and creative play and attitudes, is a big mistake.

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