‘Tis the Season for Bone-Crunchin’?

In congressional hearings this fall, legislators vaguely promised to rein in the marketing of violent entertainment to children. Their overreaching proposals to restrict everything from video games to toys rightly came to naught. The job of protecting children from exposure to inappropriate images of violence remains largely where it has always been--with parents.

Fortunately, there are Internet sites that can help, including one that names the best and worst toys. The Lion & Lamb Project, a family advocacy group based in Maryland, Monday released a list of 20 toys that encourage creativity and learning and a “dirty dozen” list of particularly violent toys. These include “Bone Crunchin’ Buddies” (ages 3 and up), figures that toddlers can pummel to hear “bone crunching action,” and “Metal Gear Solid” (ages 5 and up), an “action figure” that comes with two Colt Army revolvers, two ammo belts and a torture table. The lists are available at www.lionlamb.org.

Washington can’t and shouldn’t put a bureaucrat in every store, but the toy industry should keep its promise to stop marketing adult-level violence to children. There is no excuse for products like “Metal Gear Solid,” whose packaging does not reveal that it is based on an ultraviolent, adults-only video game.

That said, only parents can offer a comprehensive defense, especially in this toy-saturated season. A cheer, therefore, for the help provided by the Lion & Lamb Project’s Web site.