Your new timetable, kids: double maths, English and a spot of shooting

[daftandbarmy]

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Your new timetable, kids: double maths, English and a spot of shooting

· Surge in school gun ranges after minister backed sport
· Lobby group rejects link to violent crime

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schoolsports/story/0,,2247255,00.html

 

[FullMetalParka]

I would've dropped Biology in a heartbeat for that. 

Lyn Costello, co-founder of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression which campaigns against street violence, said: "There is no reason why children should play with toy guns at five let alone real ones at 15. In the present climate we should not be encouraging children to use guns.

"We have to stop this. The whole message we're sending out is mixed. Guns are made to kill, they have no other use.

"It's disgusting that on a weekly basis young people are being killed and then we're spending taxpayers' money on teaching them to shoot."

She said giving children more access to guns could lead to the kind of school massacres seen in the US.

Using her logic, showing a kid how to chop vegetables is akin to teaching them how to effectively slit one's throat.

 

[Donut]

I was lucky enought to attend a high school with a rifle range, an archery club, and trips to a local pistol range for more "practical" applications of marksmanship. It was great to be able to put down the books and put lead on target a couple of days a week. We'd joke about the "3 R's":  Rugby, Rowing, and Riflery.  ;D

 

[SeaDog]

My high school had a rifle range, as well.  Unfortunately it was closed due to poor ventilation (older facility) - leaving us with archery and canoeing.  I wonder if she views her nations Olympians as poor role models which will take the youth down a disparaging road of inevitable street violence?  Marksmanship is a time-honoured and internationally recognized competition, yet Olymipic calibre athletes just don't appear out of thin air.  It takes years of dedication, and the help of programs like the one instituted at that school.