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STEVE FINAN: Don’t let political correctness stop Tayside kids being kids

"There’s nothing wrong with children playing at shooting each other with pretend guns, or imagining they are knights who stab each other with swords."

Steve Finan thinks the planned play fort at Brechin Castle will be great for kids.
Steve Finan thinks the planned play fort at Brechin Castle will be great for kids.

A huge wooden play fort is to be built at Brechin Castle Centre.

Brilliant!

I thought such things were lost to our politically correct society.

If you look at the flame wars on X (I’d urge you not to) you’d think the only pursuits available to children were drag queen storytelling and gender workshops.

But a fort! It’s a young warrior’s dream come true.

I commend Brechin Castle Centre, and the designers of the fort, for their understanding of what it is that kids actually enjoy.

The plans look spectacular. The centre will, I’m sure, have massive success with it.

Brechin Castle Centre plans for new children’s play fort. Supplied by Greenspan/Brechin Castle Centre

This opinion is solely mine, not the centre’s: I think a fort will allow children to truly be children, with everything that means.

It will allow play fighting, and that’s a great thing.

Let battle be joined. Let war rage across the battlements. Let the cut and thrust of imagination commence.

All kids should climb trees, skin their knees, and get into scrapes.

They should do things that get them out to burn energy and lessen their chances of being overweight.

Too many are too fat.

Now, I can hear you thinking: out-of-touch old dafty with a rose-tinted view of the past.

Well, that depends how you look at it. It depends if you have the life experience to properly judge.

A critic in their 20s can’t tell me I’m wrong until they’re in their 60s, when they’ve seen life from more than one angle. After they’ve watched children grow into adults.

But if you’re the sort of person who thinks playing at soldiers, or knights in armour, and fencing with wooden swords, pretending to kill enemies or die in battle, is a bad thing then you should speak up.

‘Children should be allowed to pay’

You’re wrong, but I hope I’ve wobbled your wishy-washy head enough to make you think.

This is the sort of discussion about child rearing that should be out in the open, with full and frank views on both sides.

Because no one should be afraid to put across an honest opinion in case they’re shouted down or “cancelled”.

I don’t give a monkeys about being cancelled (whatever it means). It sounds amusing.

There’s nothing wrong with children playing at shooting each other with pretend guns, or imagining they are King Arthur’s knights who stab each other with swords.

It is play. There’s rarely anything wrong with playing.

It’s certainly no worse than Call of Duty, Half-Life or Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto V.

And competitive sport, where some win and some lose, is also vital.

As people go through life they experience wins and losses. Everyone should try their utmost to win, not meekly accept defeat. But they need to know how to handle defeat.

Further, there’s nothing wrong with kids falling out and fighting. Yes, I do mean fist fights (thanks, I’m laughing at your indignation).

It’s good. It’s healthy. It’s human. They’ll soon make up, and learning to make up is a valuable life skill.

An overly protected child grows into an adult who can’t cope with life.

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