My heart is heavy tonight for a family in my town that I don't even know. A family whose 14 year old son is fighting for his life after being shot by a police officer. That 14 year old had pulled a FAKE gun out in the police officers presence.
Please pray for the King family and for the officer involved and his family.
I was just talking to my children about this very issue at the end of October.
My husband found a fake gun while working on at a Fear the Farm, a local zombie hunting place open for Halloween. Someone had left it behind and it had been altered to look more real. It had the orange tip removed. My husband was startled by it being there, until he picked it up and it was plastic.
Please teach your children to NEVER pull a Gun , real or fake, on a police officer.
Teach them to raise their hands and announce that they have a FAKE or real gun on their person and where it is located at. Let the officer retrieve the gun or wait till the officer tells them to remove it from themselves.
Fake guns should not be painted or altered to look more like real guns. They have that orange tip for a reason. To save lives. The lives of the person holding the fake gun. Usually a child. If it doesn't have a orange tip, consider painting the tip orange.
I am not against kids playing with guns. My boys play with toy guns. They have air soft guns. They turn sticks into guns. But I suppose if your child is not capable of understanding how to behave around a police officer with a gun, real or fake, then you might want to consider not letting them play with guns. Or maybe you don't let your children play with guns and think that is enough. No, please still educate them. They may end up with friends playing with their guns.
EDUCATE your children starting NOW how to behave if a police officer is around or questioning them in public.
