Eddie Eagle.html |
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The Eddie Eagle program and its namesake character were developed by the National Rifle Association for children who are generally considered too young to be allowed to handle firearms. While maturity levels vary, the Eddie Eagle program is intended for children of any age from pre-school through third grade.
The program trains children to avoid causing harm when they encounter firearms, through an easily-remembered litany:
- Stop — to take time to remember the rest of the instructions.
- Don't touch — A firearm that is not touched or acted upon by an outside force is highly unlikely to fire, or endanger a person.
- Leave the area — By leaving the area the child removes himself/herself from temptation, as well as from the danger that another person might pick up the gun and negligently cause it to fire.
- Tell an adult — An adult, if not personally trained in handling firearms, should know enough to seek professional assistance.
The NRA, which also sponsors training for adults in safe gun-handling, developed this program in response to sensational news stories about deaths and injuries of youths by negligent gunfire.
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Criticism
The ABC News program 20/20 did a feature on Eddie Eagle which was highly critical of the program. This feature stated that it does not work to simply "Tell [very young] kids what to do" and expect them to follow those instructions implicitly.
The producers had a group of schoolchildren (aged 3 to 10 years old) watch the Eddie Eagle video along with a presentation by a police officer on gun safety. While the children all appeared to understand the message that guns are not toys, when the children are left alone with prop guns (and a hidden camera capturing their reactions), they all proceeded to use them as if they were toys.
Response to criticism
In response, gun rights advocates claimed that the children in the segment may have been encouraged to play with the gun and knowing that they would be on television would act in a manner to get attention.citation needed
It is also pointed out that the Eddie Eagle program – like many child-education methods – depends on repeated contact with the message. Materials such as coloring books provide this necessary contact. Likewise, teachers and parents are encouraged to talk with their children about the subject. The children in the segment were exposed a single time to the message, as part of a series of lectures, and not given the follow-up materials or support. Rarely does such a method succeed in teaching young children anything.citation needed
NRA spokespersons have numerous anecdotal accounts of "saves" made by the program in which children who were in live situations where a gun was found lying around did exactly as the program instructed them to.[1]