Stay Safe Ya'll !
Even for squirrels, I prefer a .410 with bird shot.
I think a big mistake parents make is to switch a kid from his bb gun to a .22 rifle.
He fails to realize the difference. There's no kick and practically no sound. He doesn't realize that he's shooting a high powered rifle that will kill just like .300 Magnum.
I disagree that a .22 is a good gun to learn on.
I got my boys a .243 and a .270 for their first rifles, and they knew they were shooting a rifle, not a bb gun.