I was listening to the JRE podcast with Aron Snyder, and it struck me when Aron mentioned locking his rifle in his principal's office during deer season when he was a kid in high school.
I had the same experience as a pup (i think i'm only about five years older than A.S.). The first day of whitetail season was an NMA (non mandatory attendance) day at my high school. I bet that on any given day in the fall that there were 50-80 firearms locked in vehicles outside in the parking lot and another 10-15 secured in the principal's walk in closet that had been converted to a lock up.
I remember one of my grade 11 teachers bringing his shiny brand new M77 RSI in .308 into class at the end of the day to show all of us little shitkickers how pretty a rifle could be. A bunch of us sat in that classroom for an hour talking rifles and cycling that bolt.
Going even further back, the first day of grade 1 our teacher walked in and said: "Now, which of you boys have pocket knives on you? I need a hand opening all of these boxes of books." Yeah. That's right. Little boys in school with pocket knives. I think there were eight or nine hands that went up that morning.
It was a badge of honor to carry a pocket knife, and a big badge of shame if you had it taken away by an adult for being careless. You were a "baby who couldn't handle a knife safely", and that was reinforced by not only other kids, but by adults. It wasn't bullying or being mean, it was teaching responsibility and accountability.
I know those times are long gone, but i mourn for all of the kids who have missed out on great opportunities to grow into adulthood by being given trust and guidance.
Who else here grew up being trusted and cared for by community?
I had the same experience as a pup (i think i'm only about five years older than A.S.). The first day of whitetail season was an NMA (non mandatory attendance) day at my high school. I bet that on any given day in the fall that there were 50-80 firearms locked in vehicles outside in the parking lot and another 10-15 secured in the principal's walk in closet that had been converted to a lock up.
I remember one of my grade 11 teachers bringing his shiny brand new M77 RSI in .308 into class at the end of the day to show all of us little shitkickers how pretty a rifle could be. A bunch of us sat in that classroom for an hour talking rifles and cycling that bolt.
Going even further back, the first day of grade 1 our teacher walked in and said: "Now, which of you boys have pocket knives on you? I need a hand opening all of these boxes of books." Yeah. That's right. Little boys in school with pocket knives. I think there were eight or nine hands that went up that morning.
It was a badge of honor to carry a pocket knife, and a big badge of shame if you had it taken away by an adult for being careless. You were a "baby who couldn't handle a knife safely", and that was reinforced by not only other kids, but by adults. It wasn't bullying or being mean, it was teaching responsibility and accountability.
I know those times are long gone, but i mourn for all of the kids who have missed out on great opportunities to grow into adulthood by being given trust and guidance.
Who else here grew up being trusted and cared for by community?