Are Lego toys becoming more violent? Study says yes

The short answer is, according to this study’s findings, Yes.

“The Lego company’s products are not as innocent as they used to be”, lead researcher Christoph Bartneck said.

Even by the researchers’ own measure, it’s an unusual study.

Are your child’s toys more violent than the ones you remember?

The research points to the increasing number of themed Lego sets making their way onto the market.

Bartneck and his team conducted two analyses.

Dr Bartneck said the percentage was probably higher as the data included only small, single-brick weapons, not items such as the best-selling Star Wars’ Death Star, which in itself is a giant planet-destroying ray blaster. However, because it’s comprised of thousands of pieces of non-weaponry, it did not end up being classified as a weapon.

Researchers, who acknowledged that working out conflicts is important for children to learn, did not explore the effect of violent toys and imagery on children’s behavior.

“This increase is not in line with their policy that “Lego products aim to discourage pretend violence as a primary play incentive”.

There’s a new “arms race” gripping the globe, but this time happening in the world of toys, according to New Zealand researchers.

From 1958 until the late 1970s, Lego parts were primarily mini construction proxies, and the early advertisements for the Lego system typically showed children and families building houses, boats and skyscrapers. “It all ties into some of these more fantasy themes”.

Timbuk Toys owner Sallie Kashiwa said the move to feature more weapons is more a result of Lego’s move to feature themes in its toy sets, like Star Wars. “Their products and the scenarios in which they were shown looked so peaceful”, he said.

It’s come a long way in the last 80 years.

Legos, obviously, are not created in a vacuum.

He says Lego allows young children to deal with conflict in a play environment, as opposed to a real one. “The designs are meant to enrich play with engaging conflict scenarios where aggression might be used for the goal of overcoming imaginary evil.’ The violence in Lego products seems to have gone beyond just enriching game play”. “We do not make products that promote or encourage violence”, she said. Hence it’s an ideal product to investigate changes of violence in toys.

Lego, for what it’s worth, doesn’t consider the presence of weapons in its toys an endorsement of real-life violence. Did you play with Lego when you were growing up?

However, the study suggests the company, like many toymakers, has turned down the dark path of violence to compete with computer games.

Media captionWhen is it not okay to use Lego?