Drew and his most recent passion

Our son Drew is now 10 years old, and his latest passion is something called "airsoft" or "airsofting." If you aren't familiar with "airsofting," it is an activity where you have a gun and you attempt to shoot your opponents with small plastic BBs. The guns are usually battery powered (sometimes gas), and you can usually hold a few hundred rounds of ammunition in your clip. As we have learned, there is a whole subculture of people who really, REALLY get into airsofting. I mean, you can spend several hundred dollars on your gun, then several hundred more on various other equipment and supplies. Many airsofting enthusiasts also produce videos of their battles and then post them on Youtube for others to view. And Drew has been bitten HARD by the airsofting bug. We are now on his third or fourth gun, each of them successively more powerful than the previous gun, and he has a full wardrobe of camouflage fatigues, a helmet, a facemask, etc...Several of Drew's friends are also interested in airsofting, so Drew has organized "battles" in the forest near our house.

But his favorite place is certainly an airsofting-specific facility called "Tacoma Tactical." I took Drew and a few friends down to Tacoma Tactical over the winter break and we had a great time! It's basically a large warehouse with several small "rooms" that provide cover.

Here are a few photos of Drew in action.



This is Drew at Tacoma Tactical. He is on the "red team," which is why he had the red headband on his helmet.







Being completely honest, I have mixed feelings about Drew's most recent passion for airsoft. On the one hand, I recognize that this is an "all boy" activity, and I like the fact that Drew is working on developing traits like leadership, courage, and fighting for what is good and right. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of airsofting because I think it might foster a false impression of war (which is horrible) and firearms (which are dangerous and deadly). When done the right way, airsoft is actually pretty safe. You always wear eye protection, and when you get it hit it feels like you are being pinched. Also, to be completely honest, I wish that Drew would be passionate for a sport like soccer or baseball, but I understand I can't force that on him right now. For now, we are letting Drew explore this recent passion, but we are attempting to moderate it.