Posted on 11/16/2003 10:35:54 AM PST by spald
What do kids learn from gun education?
By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor
COLUMBUS - Timothy Grendell is adamant about teaching gun safety to kids.
In rural areas like his native Geauga County, he says, gun safety is often taught in the home and gun accidents are rare. But that's not the case in urban areas, which is why Rep. Grendell, R-Chesterland, worked for three years to get House Bill 95 passed this summer to fund gun safety education in Ohio schools.
"We teach sex education, we teach drug education - I think it's appropriate that we also teach gun safety education," Grendell says.
Ohio thus becomes the first state to fund gun safety education in public schools. This month, all 612 Ohio school superintendents were notified about the two-year, $40,000 pilot program, which will cover the cost of the National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program, designed for pupils in K-3.
"The eagle is a strong character that children can look up to," says Heidi Cifelli, program manager. "We wanted a cartoon-type character that children can relate to."
The "Eddie Eagle" motto is: "Stop! Don't Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult."
Since 1975, there has been an 84 percent decline in fatal firearm accidents nationwide among those 14 or younger, according to the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Safety Council. With such encouraging numbers, why the need for a gun safety education program?
"Just because the number of deaths has gone down, it doesn't mean we should stop our efforts," Cifelli says. "Whether they're in a home with guns or not, in a rural setting or in an urban setting, children need to know not to touch a gun, just as they need to know to 'Stop, drop and roll.' "
Eddie Eagle has been endorsed by the National Safety Council, the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Sheriff's Association.
Critics include the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the center, says Eddie Eagle "is a marketing program masquerading as a gun safety program." His group refers to Eddie Eagle as "Joe Camel with feathers."
"Just like the alcohol and tobacco industries have worked to find ways to reach out to underage consumers, Eddie Eagle is one component of the NRA's efforts to reach out to underage gun consumers," Sugarmann said.
Improved pediatric trauma care in the past 15 years has played a significant part in the decrease in number of child deaths by guns - not educational programs like Eddie Eagle, Sugarmann said.
By implementing gun safety programs in Ohio, Grendell said, more children will be assured a proper education on what to do if they come upon an unsecured firearm.
The program, developed by the NRA 15 years ago, has been available in Cincinnati through law enforcement agencies, gun clubs and civic groups. Last year, Pierce Township police in Clermont County presented the program to fourth- and fifth-graders at Locust Corner Elementary in New Richmond.
"There's a lot of hunting in Clermont County. And with guns and rifles in the home, we wanted to make sure that children got the message," said former principal Charles Moore, now superintendent of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District.
About the program
The "Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program" is designed for students in grades K-3. The self-explanatory program includes a student workbook, corresponding instructor guide, reward stickers, posters and parent guides.
School districts wishing to participate in the pilot program should call the National Rifle Association at (800) 336-7402 or visit www.nrahq.org.
Orders for fiscal year 2004 must be received by Dec. 1. Schools can submit their invoice to the Ohio Department of Education for reimbursement. Total reimbursements for each year of the program will not exceed $20,000 and will be paid in the order they are received.
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E-mail annag376@aol.com
EGADS!
What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. May God have mercy on your soul.
FMCDH
Nah--an ass braying is actually a real (albeit VERY low) level of communication from the critter.
For Sugarmann's pronouncements, the sound of flatulence is a more appropriate comparison, as it communicates nothing, and stinks.
Actually that was probably his wife or sister. Females of our species are also quite deadly, just not quite so strong, but much sneakier in consqquence. I don't know what my Grandma thought of guns, the subject never came up directly, but she was one quick lady with a hoe when snakes threatened her chickens, let me tell you. I don't think she must have objected to guns though, we were always slobbering over the guns in the Sears and Wards catalogs she always had, and when older, we would disappear to the fields after holiday meals, and we might have been out before eating too. We weren't out fishing, and we (my cousins and I) most definitely had guns, either of our own, or we borrowed from our fathers. She never objected, although she didn't want us shooting any quail, pheasants, rabbit and squirrel were more than fair game, and she'd even cook them up for us on occasion.
You should have seen the eyes on those kids. They were given a solemn lecture from some NCO or Officer "Daddy" what can happen when you touch either daddy's gun or the gun of somebody elses daddy.....LOTS of vigorious nods form those kids and not a single accident in the time that those "Family days" were in effect. One test we used to do was to take a gun and plunk it on the coffee table in front of any kid and see them furiously backpedal and say: "UH-UH! NO! BANG BANG!"
Then when they got bigger...say around age 10 we'd do it all again, but this time, it'd be a basic marksmanship course to show them the JOY of SAFE SHOOTING. Along with those second round of lessons was built a father son bond and a sense of responsibility was imbued to the older kids sort of a man to man kind of thing that gun safety is to be safe and protect younger sibling kind of thing. Sorta like finding out the truth about Santa.....(Sorry Travis McGee...but it's time you know the truth.)
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