"good guy" "bad guy" do you subscribe to this?

[sisteeesmama]

We were wathching monsters inc. the other day and my dh told my dd that the lizard-y guy was the bad guy and it made me think. Do you subscribe to this sort of thinking?

[purplemoon]

I remember reading that children are big fans of this black and white thinking. They somehow need to see good winning over evil, the good guy winning and defeating the bad guy. I know I have seen it crop out from nowhere with my own kids where they run after and destroy the bad dinosaurs. It makes them feel like they can conquer their fears I suppose.

I think naturally we progress where we see that good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. That the line of good and bad is make believe, that we all have sides and choices in life.

[The4OfUs]

I mention that most people do both "good" and "bad" things, but that people are rarely all good or all bad. We've also talked about what "good" and "bad" mean in different ways depending on the conversation.

So, yes and no. I don't necessarily call *people* (or characters) bad, but I do label actions as negative. I try to give more detailed descriptors than "bad", because that's pretty generic and I'd rather talk about what the specific trait is that's positive or negative.

Having said that, both DS and DD talk about "bad guys" and "good guys" when they play, probably because it's easier than getting into the more detailed semantics when you're in the middle of a game . I don't corect them when they do it, I just comment on aspects of the game like they're brave for rescuing someone, or whatever.

[annethcz]

Like others, we talk about good actions or bad actions but not about good and bad people.

My kids are a little older, so we've had several discussions about how the "good guys" or "bad guys" in a certain situation would depend on the viewpoint from which you're viewing the situation. This has come up a number of times when talking about wars and armed conflicts.

[Cujobunny]

I don't have any issue with it. My son plays "good guy, bad guy" and it's all pretend. As far as I know, he's never actually referred to a real person as "bad" and if he does he says it's his friend pretending to be a bad guy and the others were chasing him or whatever. He is in school now and told me that he and his friends were looking for and capturing bad guys (invisible ones) and bringing them home and giving them milk and cookies.

If that's the way he wants to work out his conflicts in play, that's ok by me.

[sisteeesmama]

I think I feel the same way, I just know that in the past I have been labeled as "bad" and it is so subjective....