As is probably true with many families, my kids don’t watch violent TV shows. So we were surprised to see a land mine designed to blow off people’s limbs next to the kiddie art table in Cy’s Big Top. I don’t really care whether it had a “clacker” or not, since I think this distinction would be lost on many of the 5-year-olds who were there to play in the ducky pond.

And if it’s to teach gun safety, why use mines and mortar shells? I’ve seen what land mines can do and have done to many children and adults.

It should be noted that churches and other humanitarian groups have been taking on the dangerous work of clearing these indiscriminate killers from civilian areas.

At the lab school, about a stone’s throw away, my daughter learned to “use words” in settling disputes, and here she’s trying to figure out why there’s an M-16 in the kids’ tent.

Regardless of how many moving parts it housed, most of the kids there could probably tell you that this “tool” has an intended purpose very different from that of plowshares or whatever ag equipment was on display.

This doesn’t strike me as a question of the honor and courage of the military, but of the appropriateness of having weapons designed to rip bodies apart across from the bean-bag toss where kindergartners are trying to win a lollipop.

Chris Lubienski

Assistant professor

Curriculum and Instruction