Tuesday, January 8, 2013

No guns in schools

Our local schools have a zero-tolerance policy on guns in schools. And, of course, there is our State law.

You'd better be as careful in schools as you are at the airport, before you utter the word "gun". Should you even write the word "gun" within a school building or on school grounds?

What if you draw a picture of a gun? Or point your finger and say "Pow", as one 6-year-old did in another state?

At Clay Academy, on the second floor, tonight there was a career path poster for the U.S.M.C. Being a Marine could be a great employment path. You can learn discipline, obedience and some fine skills. You might even be lucky enough to develop some skills that you can use after you complete your tour of duty as a Marine. Civilian career opportunities are limited for infantrymen and snipers.

The picture in the upper left of the poster represented a career path for which there is probably not much civilian use. It's an important one - even critical - if you are planning to stay alive and complete your military service.

For some reason, though, I suspect that few graduates of Clay Academy will qualify for military service. So I found this display more than a bit incongruous.

Frankly, I think it would be a good idea to teach gun safety and marksmanship in our schools. Let's re-establish rifle teams. And pistol teams. Was there ever a rifle team in Woodstock schools? Let's teach our children to respect guns and to learn their usefulness. Let's stop promoting fear of guns in our schools and society.

2 comments:

Big Daddy said...

Gus, I have never hidden my guns from my childrn. I have never even put them away. There has always been one somewhere in the house. A countertop,a nightstand, wherever. I have always told my chidren that they were NEVER to touch one but if they wanted to, under my supervision they could handle one as much as they wanted. They were never to allow their friends to touch them or play with them either. I have taken them to the range and allowed them to shoot them. There has never been one single problem with my children and guns. I took the mystique out them. My son grew up to not care about them one way or the other and my daughter grewup to be an excellent shot. YMMV however.

Gus said...

Big Daddy, sorry for the delay in publishing your comment. Thanks for your position on this. I agree completing about removing the mystique.