Eddie Eagle Under Attack
A Garland Texas mother believes the NRA's Eddie Eagle program is inappropriate for five year old children. "Not only do I think it's inappropriate to provide this information to my five year old, 
but this is a program published by the NRA," blathered Nicola Howe.
When Howe's daughter brought home an Eddie Eagle coloring book, Ms. Howe was shocked to discover outlines of children encountering dangerous guns for her daughter to color in. "Having pictures of guns that children color in I think is sending the wrong message," said Howe.
Howe's little girl, Samone also watched an Eddie Eagle video as part of the school district's curriculum centered around teaching children to protect themselves. The children were also exposed to life jackets, bicycle safety, car safety and instructed on appropriate action to take if confronted by a stranger. All that is fine and dandy with Ms. Howe, but pictures of evil guns and instructions on what a child should do if they encounter one have no place in the school system according to Ms. Howe. "At five years old, anytime you tell a child not to touch something, that's exactly what they do. It's in their nature to be curious and to touch and handle things," she says.
That's why you teach them what not to do, Ms. Howe. I suppose you avoid the subjects of drinking bleach, playing with matches, handling rattlesnakes and sticking your head in the sand as well.
but this is a program published by the NRA," blathered Nicola Howe. When Howe's daughter brought home an Eddie Eagle coloring book, Ms. Howe was shocked to discover outlines of children encountering dangerous guns for her daughter to color in. "Having pictures of guns that children color in I think is sending the wrong message," said Howe.
Howe's little girl, Samone also watched an Eddie Eagle video as part of the school district's curriculum centered around teaching children to protect themselves. The children were also exposed to life jackets, bicycle safety, car safety and instructed on appropriate action to take if confronted by a stranger. All that is fine and dandy with Ms. Howe, but pictures of evil guns and instructions on what a child should do if they encounter one have no place in the school system according to Ms. Howe. "At five years old, anytime you tell a child not to touch something, that's exactly what they do. It's in their nature to be curious and to touch and handle things," she says.
That's why you teach them what not to do, Ms. Howe. I suppose you avoid the subjects of drinking bleach, playing with matches, handling rattlesnakes and sticking your head in the sand as well.
Labels: Gun Bias
posted by Xavier at 10:39 PM
40 Comments:
I wonder how she would feel if the Brady Bunch published this?
It always amazes me that there are people that ignorant. Not to insult this woman there is no shame in being ignorant about guns or bike safety but to not educate yourself is unforgivable and can be fatal. If one passes there lack of knowlege on to the next generation, well there always a chance to get a Darwin award.
I'd be willing the bet that Ms. Howe tells her little girl not to do other things. Sure, kids are curious, but good parenting skills are not afraid of telling kids, "No."
"At five years old, anytime you tell a child not to touch something, that's exactly what they do.
Not my 5y.o., she knows that if I say "don't touch" there's a reason for it and if I haven't explained the reason previously I will shortly.
As you say, based on the premise expoused by this lady warning your children about anything would be counter productive.
Man.... It's really hard to be nice with oxygen thieves like her around. Mabey that's a little too hash, but with the moron population booming, my nice is about used up.
Parent, to child: "Don't touch that, it is: _________" Come on, lady, quit cramming the cheeseburgers down and be a damned parent.
I appear to also be low on nice.
Jim
I took my five year old daughter shooting her .22 Chipmunk rifle last week. She know what to do if she finds a gun. Apparently my daughter is smarter than this poor excuse for a parent.
something more disturbing about this is that the media would cover this idiot woman without balanced coverage of the Eddie Eagle program. The program really provides a benefit to our communities. I am sick of people who would sit around and complain without really trying to improve things.
If they had been teaching five year old children to SHOOT with guns, then I would agree that they're too young.
But I don't see why it would be wrong to tell kids not to play with real guns.
She says:
"Gun ownership, control and safety are hot topics as well. It just simply has no place in our school systems," said Howe.
____________________________
But I bet this airhead has no problem with a the dissemination of free condoms and a frank discussion of abortion, drug use, and smoking in our school system.
She does not look like she's splitting atoms on weekends.
I'll bet that she voted for Obama too.
Folks, I wouldn't get too bent out of shape over this. Eddie Eagle isn't under attack... it's just one woman unclear on the concept (note the article says that in 10 years of teaching this this is the first complaint).
http://hsoiblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/unclear-on-the-concept/
Unfortunately, looks like a young Mrs. Howe heard lots of, "think for yourself" and, "think through an issue" when she was young. And whaddaya know? Just like her little daughter, she's doing the opposite. *sigh*
Different strokes for different folks. That Ms. Howe is woefully uninformed and, unfortunately, passing that on to her daughter, is too bad, but she is entitled to her opinion and to raise her child as she sees fit. Unfortunately, the world is a dangerous place and a child should not be denied the knowledge necessary to survive in it.
Well that's not what my kids do. I don't oversaturate them with thing they can not do but they know when it is important and react to it accordingly. In other words I let my kids play with matches when I'm around, I let them whittle with a knife, I let them run with scissors... oh boy. Good thing i'm Mr.Potato.
Yup, she is a true American, or at least what passes for one today: superficial, wilfully ignorant, and not about to let either of the aforementioned facts keep her from blabbing loud and long.
I see these folks ALL the time in life. They dress like slobs, they "think" like slobs, they act like slobs, and they throw their uninformed opinions out at the drop of a hat. But do you know what the really scary thing is? Their vote counts as much as mine, an informed person with a sense of history, does, and there are a lot more of these slobs out there than there are people of my ilk.
Xavier,
As my friend Leroy says: "Boy, that's dumber than dirt"
HankH
I wonder if she'd have that same look on her face if her precious child were involved in an accidental shooting.
How stupid are people?
Hell, at five years old I was learning to shoot a 22.
Kilahti, I have to disagree - there is no "right age" to teach kids to shoot; it has to be done at a parent's discretion and judgment. A close friend of mine has a daughter who just turned 4; she is a phenomenally mature four-year-old, and has been allowed to shoot his .22 with plenty of help and supervision. Teaching gun safety and responsibility takes away the mystery and taboo and makes it far more likely that a child will respond appropriately if they DO find a gun unexpectedly.
As to Ms. Blob... Lady, you call yourself a Texan?
The tv coverage I saw was "kind of" reasonable in stating that eddie eagle is a safety program with a good record of educating kids. The report could have and should have been much more positive.
Fred
Everyone else has made the appropriate comments about Ms. Howe. But why did that story get air time?
You've had a lot of comments on this story. This is how we safety-fied our kids.
My wife had potted poisonous plants in the house. She taught the kids not to touch them. I figured that would work with firearms, too.
Knowing that they are curious, when a new 'hardware' item show up, we looked at it, handled it, until they were pretty tired of it. Then, I told them under no circumstances would they touch it alone. If they EVER wanted to see it again, just ask. I'd drop what I was doing and we'd mess with it again. And we did, many times.
We went together to shoot, and we cleaned them together, and reloaded together. It has worked so far. I'm working with my grandchildren now.
My daughter is working toward her CHL, my oldest son shoots expert with the M16 and M9, and my youngest is very handy with the M44 carbine. My wife can outshoot me with anything I own, and no ND's to date.
Kids are sharp. They can be taught. If you expect a lot of them, they usually rise to the occasion. If you treat them like rejects, they'll meet that expectation, too.
Thankfully my dad taught me respect and skill at arms. That was one of the only things he gave me, and it's what I treasure most.
Let this lady's response be a clarion call to teach your kids and grandkids, maybe even you spouse.
take care...King Item 5
"She does not look like she's splitting atoms on weekends."
I could say the same thing about a lot of the folks at my shooting range.
I took my Daughter shooting the first time at age 5.She is now 7 and a lot more interested in Hannah Montana and horses,which is fine.To her,Firearms are just another tool dad uses.And she knows the basics of safety around all of my tools from Axes to Automobiles.As far as this Woman,Ignorance is curable,stupidity is not.
"I could say the same thing about a lot of the folks at my shooting range."
Heh... with my proximity to Oak ridge, a lot of my fellow shooters/customers may not look like they're not splitting atoms on the weekend, but I know some of them are.
I learned not to touch guns long before I was five. But then, my parents enforced what they told us. Doing what you'd been told not to do didn't pay!
This mom should try that strategy some time.
In other news, unchecked migration of blissninnies into Dallas suburbs goes unchecked. Film at 10.
Regards,
Rabbit
Five... sound about the right age where if I had kids, I'd get them a pelletgun and teach them how to shoot, and shooting safety, under supervision. When I'd let them use it unsupervised would depend entirely on when they'd earned my trust that they'd treat it responsibly.
Well, that's a bunch of pelosi.
The saddest part of this is that her kind votes. It is bad enough that she can procreate but with the power of the vote she and her kind can screw up all of our kids.
We have to make sure that people like this are countered on a continual basis so we can minimize the damage.
guns create murder and little kids shouldn't know about them.
"guns create murder"
That's not the most ignorant thing I've ever heard but you made the list.
People have been murdering each other for thousands of years. In the world of crime and murder guns are only a minor footnote.
Baa!
So, Pipi ... murder wasn't around before the invention of firearms?
Someone should correct all those historians.
I received my first don't-touch lesson at age four, accompanied by a demonstration of the destructive power of a 12 gauge. It was effective.
I'm going to stray from the crowd here and say that I agree with Ms. Howe on this one. It is definitely not the job of a state-run school to be teaching any of this stuff. It is the job of the parents.
If I had to opportunity to lecture Ms. Howe on the matter, and I would simply ask, "You are aware that you're giving your child a dangerous disability by keeping him ignorant, are you not?"
These are the same kinds of moron parents who recently got all up in arms with the BBC because a children's show is featuring a disabled female host.
(http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/28/bbc.disabled.host/index.html for that story)
she is from TEXAS???? Send her BACK where she came from. Good grief...I'm from WA and still recognize the FOLLY of her position.
My Son's comment (after finishing cleaning his 1911) "Dad, the STUPID...It BURNS".
Just as bad as the know-nothings who won't teach their children to SWIM (In Puget Sound area no less) because they are afraid that the kids might drown in the pool.
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