The Lion and Lamb - Violent Toy Exchanges

The Lion and Lamb Project

Did you know that every day in the United States, 75 children are shot and 15 of those kids will die? Or did you know that more teenage boys will die in gunfire in America than from car accidents? Would you like to help put a stop to all these unnecessary deaths? Then why not check out all the great stuff The Lion and Lamb Project is doing to make America a safer place? Read on to learn how you too can make a difference.

Practically from birth, kids are bombarded by images of violence in movies, TV shows, cartoons, commercials and the news. The most popular shows are always the ones with the most blood, gore and cool looking weapons and the best-selling toys are always the most violent ones on the market. So is it really any wonder why so many kids are becoming desensitized to violence?

The Lion and Lamb Project is working in conjunction with parents, schools and government agencies across the country to put an end to the rise in violence among youth in the US. One way they are trying to educate kids and change the outlook of America's youth is through violent toy exchanges. These are easy and beneficial to everyone who takes part.

The object of a violent toy exchange is to get as many kids in your school as possible to bring in a violent toy which they can trade in for a new book, game or toy. The Lion and Lamb Project has some great ideas on their site on how you can organize your own violent toy exchange and they also sell different "How-To" guides if you need a little more direction.

Violent toy exchanges can be done at your school, with a church group, community center, girl guides/boy scouts or any other group that wants to help with the cause. At the end of your trade-in, organizers of the exchange are encouraged to get all the participants to create a structure of peace with all of the violent toys. The Lion and Lamb Project assembled a peace structure in Washington DC in 2000 that displayed over 10,000 violent toys that had been collected from all over the United States.

For more about The Lion and Lamb Project, and how you can start your own violent toy exchange, head to their site www.lionlamb.org.