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MILFORD -ÊA letter to the editor in the Times-Union from Milford Middle School parent Jane Plew regarding the "hunter safety" course taught at Milford Middle School has led to more letters from Kosciusko County residents concerning the class.
But the letter writers don't share Plew's views on the "hunter safety" course at the school. And school officials contend Plew had a few misconceptions in her letter.
Recently, Milford Principal Cindy Kaiser explained the course in more detail. First, she said, "We don't call it hunter safety anymore. We call it firearm safety."
The five Fridays, one period class is taught by a representative from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The fifth day of the course is devoted to testing over the material.
Normally, Kaiser said guns are brought in by the DNR representative on the first day of class, but "we didn't do that this year because of everything going on around the country."
As far as students handling guns, she said, "He walked around with a gun and showed them where the safety latch is." The DNR representative also showed students how to check the action on two or three different guns and how to check the gun to see if it's loaded, for safety reasons.
If a babysitter finds a child walking around the house with a gun, the safety tips will allow the babysitter to know if the gun could go off and what to do, Kaiser and Thomas Tumey, Wawasee Schools' director of Instruction, cited as an example.
While permission slips or notices of the class are not sent home once the classes begin, Kaiser said, "We give the parents a syllabus of what is going to be taught at the beginning of the year."
Parents can send a note with their student to school requesting their child not participate in the firearm safety course.
"We would have them go to the library and do some independent study...," Kaiser said. To her knowledge, only one child has not taken the course.
The class has been taught for 10 to 15 years, Kaiser said. The course used to be in conjunction with snowmobile and boat safety. Firearm safety is only scheduled when the DNR can make room for the course in their schedule. A few years, the course in firearm safety was not offered because the DNR could not find time to teach the course.
The course is part of the health curriculum, not the physical education curriculum, she said. The book used to teach the course is a hunter safety book, but only the safety sections of the book are used, Kaiser said.
Thomas Tumey, Wawasee Schools Director of Instruction, said the course is offered for a very simple reason.
"Because of the area we reside in, the fact that a great number of people have guns in their household, it is a hunting community, it stems that we have firearm safety as part of our course," Tumey said. "It's very similar in that we live in the lake area that we have a water safety course."
