Josephus wrote:funny thing about that. Our government typically doesn't let 9 yr olds get their hands on bombers OR bombs. huh.
Parents unfortunately can let them get their hands on paint cans. you can't watch 'em all the time. The problem here is that this is insidious. Most BDUMFs (mothers and fathers) don't 'get' the message, so the kids can wear this kind of stuff with impunity. It kind of reminds me of the parents who you occasionally see on TV "oh, my son was not in a gang. The police are just flat out wrong." because they have no clue about all the gang sign the kid's body had all over it, the tattoos and colors, when the police found it.
All of you who think this is OK are probably old enough to be past the age of the kids at risk for this stuff, but aren't parents, because you don't seem to grasp the impressionability of them. All these little winks at encouragements for this kind of experimentation is what leads to naive addictions in 9 year olds.
you are missing a very important piece of the puzzle:
NO WHERE ON THIS SHIRT IS THERE ANY INDICATION THAT SOMEONE SHOULD DO WHAT IS FEATURED
What you are basically saying is that, if you bought a shirt with a samurai on it, children would think it was awesome to kill someone with a sword, because that's what samurais do. It could be a peaceful samurai even.
Children learn what they are taught, and don't get what they aren't taught. Case in point: there was a George Michael song on MTV in '92, when I wasn't even 10. The video started with a voice, seemingly run through an old TV or phone, asking "would you like me to seduce you," and followed with a woman on screen removing the chest piece from her blouse, exposing a hefty amount of her "Tree ants". My sister and I both laughed in that way kids laugh at taboo things, but also both heard the question as "would you like me to INTRODUCE you?" Also worth noting: my father smoked. I do not and will not. Because I grew up hating the smell, and because no one made it off to be something to be proud of doing. Your mileage may vary... I also cuss like a sailor despite never being taught to (and have actually brought it out of my mother, which is kind of hilarious)... but for the most part, the more you trust your kid, and the more honest you are with them, and the more secure their home life is (or appears to be to them) the less stupid things they will get into.
Again, if your child is stupid enough to huff fumes, it will do it more readily after seeing a glade commercial than after seeing this shirt. Glade smells good, after all. Seriously, I'd say over half of everything parents worry about kids being influenced by stems from one simple place: parents who are foolish enough to see offense in the innocent, and therefore raise their kids to be uber-sheltered and offended by the innocent. This is art. It is facing up because it would look wrong in any other placement. Woot wrote the shirt title and the write-up, meaning that the design itself doesn't necessarily carry any sort of connotation UNLESS YOU ARE STUNTED ENOUGH TO LOOK FOR IT. Seriously, step away from the computer and go do your daily pot-search before your 6 year old gets back from kindergarten. That GI Joe base (which is wholesome and american and surely doesn't promote gun-lust and war) has about 10 compartments that a little green could fit into, as does your daughter's Barbie Malibu Condo (again, a toy which is totally wholesome and doesn't have any undertones of unhealthy self-image or suggestions that even women who want to be in empowering professions still need fashion and shopping and a cute boyfriend).
