By John Matonich
I usually try to keep my ramblings light and humorous if I can, but every now and again, I can’t help but rant a little. This is one of those times and I know a number of folks who will read this may not agree, but I can’t help but share my thoughts on the matter.
I recently read an article about a high school rifle team that wasn’t going to be able to have their team’s picture in the school year book because the team involved the use of rifles. School officials didn’t feel it was appropriate to showcase this team. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Even though it was a school team there was a feeling that drawing attention to it could cause issues in the future. Good grief, is this what our society has come to? I am terribly disappointed and a little ticked off. When are we going to learn that condoning fear is not the right approach to anything, but teaching respect is?
I know it has been a long time since I had to carry books into a school building, but I can still remember a number of students who would come to school shortly after Christmas break with their new shotgun (from Santa) under their arm for “Show and Tell”. Of course, the shotgun wasn’t loaded and it was in a case which was (and still is) the legal way to transport a shotgun. I remember the principal patting them on the back and congratulating them while he admired their new gift. No one would think of having any shells even close to them while they had the shotgun because they were taught at home not to.
I remember my father spending hours with me schooling me on the proper handling of a shotgun. How to carry it, how to load it (when it was the right time), how to make sure the safety was on even when it wasn’t loaded and so on. He was clear that if I violated any of those lessons, my hunting days would be shut off until I could prove myself worthy to be trusted once again. He taught me the importance of respecting what the shotgun could do if misused, but made sure I didn’t fear handling it.
You may be thinking that I was lucky to have a dad who spent the time with me. I was fortunate in that respect, but there are all kinds of folks who volunteer to provide that type of mentoring to those who want it and may not be as fortunate as I was to have a father wanting to spend time with me.
The correct exposure to about anything can teach respect and the importance of proper etiquette. Thinking that acting like they don’t exist is a huge mistake and I believe the root cause of many of the issues we see today. These things do exist so why not show proper care, treatment and respect.
I don’t want to get into some big debate about gun control. That isn’t the point of my rant. I am using this issue as an example of where I believe society is failing our younger folks. Hiding the realities of life is a mistake, but teaching how to handle them is the right way to go. Life is full of opportunities to win or lose and, contrary to some thinking, a participation trophy doesn’t make it any better.
And that’s the situation as I survey it …
Image credit: Rögnvaldur Jónsson
Today’s society as a whole has lost all sense of rationality, and operates mainly on emotion. Fear being the strongest of emotions makes asserting control that much easier. There is much money and power to be had by keeping folks afraid of everything around them. We should call it the “fear industry”.
Ask kids today to watch an older movie like The Goonies or Stand by Me, and they will be in disbelief that there was once a time when kids would go places without their parents hovering over them. You might even notice a look of longing to experience that themselves, but most parents these days will never allow such a thing in this scary world.
Well put, Fred….
You’re neglecting the great parenting skills of “fathers” who stopped being fathers the moment they pulled out.
I’d rather have an overprotective parent, which is what the one left must be, rather than none at all.
I understand your comment about absentee parents, but there are places such as Big Brother/Big Sisters who can’t substitute for good parents but can certainly help…
Couldn’t agree with you more, John.
Thank you, Katy..
This issue has been resolved. School district has reviewed/revised and photo, which looked pretty tame, is in yearbook.
I don’t think proper handling of guns and ammo would avert some of the tragic incidents we’ve seen. School principals, youth leaders even church leaders are having to wrestle with unthought of situations.
Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
I agree with you Suze that there isn’t any guaranteed way to stop violence, but I believe the more people understand about the things around us, the better chance we have. Glad the picture was straightened out. I hope the baseball team’s picture didn’t show any bats….
John, you said the magic word a number of times: respect.
This is not just about how to handle a rifle properly.
We often say that children and teens “need to learn some respect”, but I am not sure if all parents and adults are capable of teaching respect, because they obviously have none either.
You are correct about the “fear industry”. It causes some people to go overboard instead of getting to the root of the problem.
If the school needs to make that choice, then they shouldn’t offer that sport. One more thing: respect is a two-way street. Kids will get a better grip on respect if they are respected as well.
Valid point, Linda Ann. It is hard to teach something folks may not have a grasp of. And you are very correct…kids need to be respected too… It is a 2 way street…
Amen, John!
Thank you, Tina…
Greetings, John!
American kids, especially the boys, used to learn about shooting. I am not from a hunting family, but my dad taught me. And, then, I shot BB guns at the Y every Saturday, and .22s at camp, every summer.
This does not happen anymore. I called up my old summer camp, Camp Manitoulin in West Michigan. I asked whether they still had riflery. The answer is No. Apparently, they dropped it twenty years ago or so. Too bad. It was fun, and we all learned about shooting.
I am old, but not ancient (64). The current attitude toward shooting and learning about guns is UTTERLY opposite to what it was when I was a kid. The USA is a very different place now. Not all in a good way.
I could write on this topic a lot more, but not now. If this thread keeps going, maybe I will chime in again.
My brother and I used to have a shooting range in our family-home basement. We shot BB guns and arrows down there with our friends (unsupervised!), and always had fantastically good safe fun.
We did too, Tom
In our Middle of the Mitten High School the rifle range (for .22s only) used by the school rifle team was under the auditorium. It was still in use after we moved to the new High school in the Fall of 1959. Nobody really thought anything about it. I also remember seeing deer rifles and shotguns in the pickups some folks drove to school. Did I ever see anyone threaten to use one to settle a grievance–heck no. (Did see some bloody knuckles and noses though.)
And let’s not even mention how many of us carried a pocket knife. I, and many of my country school friends, started carrying a knife in first or second grade. They are such a handy tool. I have one in my pocket well over sixty five years later. And I never saw one come out during some pretty nasty fights. Just wasn’t done.
Our rifle range was in the same place and still is in the high school. I was on the ROTC rifle team when in high school and had a ball… and while some may not believe it… NO ONE was hurt in all the years it was used.
I would think these programs of the cold war era were more about ensuring that we always had a fresh supply of trained riflemen ready to go if needed, under the guise of a sporting activity.
When you think about it, gun control and fear of guns really came about after the Soviet Union fell. Sure, the many mass shootings in recent years play a role as well as the media that pushes those stories, inspiring copy cats. The truth however is that mass shooting have been happening far longer than most people think, but without 24/7 coverage at the time, they got neither the political attention nor the glorification they get now.
Yes. That was a good thing about the US Army. We had good sharpshooters, because we used to know how to shoot, already, before we got drafted. And, people who grew up shooting ducks out of the sky probably made great anti-aircraft gunners. And so on.
You make it seem evil when you write, “Under the guise of…”
We need gun control. And, we need gun education. We used to have gun education, but now, hardly anybody knows anything about guns. Shooting is a taboo topic. Most of the people who advocate for gun control never even have shot a gun. They know nothing about what they advocate about. The NRA stinks, but American hunters and shooters have experience and wisdom.
I don’t think its evil. I just don’t think it was really intended to be a sporting event. “We are preparing the kids to fight the Russians” might have been a litttle unsettling in a school setting for some parents.
Don’t worry, I am all for firearm education, and believe the fear of guns is mostly irrational. I am liberal about most issues, but regardless of what the right says, liberal does not mean anti-gun as I am sure you know.
I grew up with guns and I am very comfortable with them. I also sell firearm parts and accessories for a living.
Good piece of writing. Some of the answers for our society is out there but are we willing to listen?
A loss of common sense isn’t just about the yearbook photo. President Donald Trump quietly signed a bill into law rolling back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun.
I don’t know about you, but everything Josh says about responsible gun ownership suggests that mental illness and gun ownership are things that need to be looked at closely.
I knew it had to get political eventually. It is extremely difficult I believe to define mental illness no matter who the president is and more importantly how the person acts. The world we live in has never been a “one size fits all”. For every one person I can find with one set of characteristics others can be found with the same characteristics but act totally different.
Mental illness was not the main sticking point for “Obama-era regulation.” It was that most of the “Mentally ill” on the list were Social Security recipients who had someone else handling their financial transactions. So if you had decided to designate someone else to handle your checking account you automatically deemed “mentally ill.” That was more than an over reach. I know several folks who are sharp as a tack, (and still hunt and fish) who just don’t want to be bothered with that “stuff.”