Some Schools Teach Gun Safety

FOX News By Scott Butki, Jan 17, 2005, Republished

Volume 4 Issue 43

June 2005

Before the hunting season started this year, students at two schools in Frederick County, Md., were visited by Eddie Eagle, a character developed by the National Rifle Association, who had students repeat and act out a few simple gun safety rules.

The character, accompanied by Deputy First Class Thomas Johann of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, had the students say these words: "If you see a gun: Stop! Don't touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult." Johann said the NRA's Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program was administered at Thurmont Elementary and Thurmont Primary schools for students from pre-kindergarten through third grade.

The program is intended to help the students remember gun safety, especially at a time when they are more likely to see weapons around family members and their property. Johann told students, for example, that their parents never would do anything to hurt them, so if they accidentally leave a gun out where children can touch it, the student should leave the room and tell them. "We don't want you to touch the guns," Johann said he tells them. He estimated that 75 percent of homes in Frederick County have guns. The program increases the odds that students, faced with a situation where they are near a gun, will remember the rules and act appropriately, Johann said.

In April, the Frederick County Board of Education authorized schools to hold the program if the principals requested it, spokeswoman Marita Loose said. The program is not part of the school system's actual curriculum, Loose said.

While so far the Thurmont schools are the only ones who have asked for the program, he hopes others will request it, Johann said. Frederick County is not alone in using the NRA program, which usually is administered by law enforcement agencies in local schools, said Heidi Cifelli, manager of the Eddie Eagle program.

Since the program began in 1988, 18 million students in the United States - 91,000 of them in Maryland - have heard the program and seen the program mascot, Cifelli said. The nonpolitical program focuses only on gun safety and does not touch on gun ownership or the NRA's agenda, Cifelli said.

Washington County Sheriff Charles Mades said he is hoping the same gun safety program can be offered in Washington County Public Schools as part of its curriculum. "The NRA has proven theirs is an excellent program," Mades said. "It has worked in other areas." Mades said he does not think there currently are any gun safety programs taught in Washington County schools. Mades said the Washington County Board of Education told him the program can't be offered in the schools right now, but the idea will be considered at a later time.

Ed Masood, supervisor of athletics, health and physical education for the county school system, said while the program won't be added to the current curriculum, it can be offered after school if a school principal requests it.
The Chambersburg (Pa.) Area School District does not have a gun safety program as part of its curriculum, said Eric Michael, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The school system gives students information on where they can take gun safety courses in the area, Michael said.

In Berkeley County (W.Va.) Schools, students in middle school can take an optional after-school program on gun safety, said Frank Aliveto, deputy superintendent.

Hedgesville and Spring Mills middle schools offer the program in early October, prior to hunting season, he said. The program is organized and run by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, Aliveto said.
The program is not affiliated with the National Rifle Association, he said.

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