Beware, Barbie! Kids Find Torturing Fun- Study shows girls mutilate Barbie

[Ian David]

Beware, Barbie! Kids Find Torturing Fun
Study Shows Girls Mutilate the Dolls
BY ADRIAN HIEATT

LONDON, Dec. 20, 2005 — - As kids grow older, it's a rite of passage for them to take the toys they once treasured and cast them aside, or, apparently, to decapitate or even microwave them.

According to new research, young girls in England often use particularly gruesome methods as they pass through this phase of childhood.

Torture, decapitation and even microwaving of Barbie dolls were among the "varied and creative" methods of mutilation children used, researchers at the University of Bath said in a report released Monday.

The study's authors cautioned against drawing hasty conclusions about the mental health of British children, however. "The children are not a pile of psychotics in the making," said Dr. Agnes Nairn. "They see torture as a legitimate play activity."

"Whilst for an adult, the delight the child felt in breaking, mutilating and torturing their dolls is deeply disturbing," Nairn said. "From the child's point of view they were simply being imaginative in disposing of an excessive commodity in the same way as one might crush cans for recycling."


More:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=1425715