Exploring Causes of Radicalization and Violent Extremism among Children: The Effects of Toy Guns on Children in Pakistan

A child's interaction with toys is essential for their social and behavioural development. This paper examines the relationship between toy guns and radicalisation, specifically its effects on children's cognitive and behavioural development and whether they contribute to future violent patterns. The study used a mixed-method approach with children aged six to 15, both boys and girls, in a Lahore-based school. The exercise aimed to understand the amount of real hostility, pretending aggression, playing rough-and-tumble (R&T), and pretend-tononaggressive to investigate the relationship between toy gun play and aggression. The paper concludes that radicalism and its violent manifestations result from a combination of factors simultaneously playing out at the macro (political and economic) and micro (social and individual) levels.