School has started by now all over the country, and field trips to the pumpkin patch or local museum are the norm. But one field trip for 6-year-olds has sparked outrage.
A Georgia school took 6-year-olds on a field trip to a gun range, where the children posed for photos with firearms. The Facebook page of Holdheide Academy, a private Montessori school, was flooded with complaints after the event.
The school defended the trip as a history lesson for first and second graders, who are studying gunslingers Annie Oakley, Davy Crockett and Pecos Bill. “Our goal was to show the students that it was very difficult for Annie Oakley and Davy Crockett and Pecos bill to be able to accomplish the things that they did,” Holdheide Academy posted on its Facebook page.
All of the children who went on the field trip had signed permission slips from their parents authorizing the experience. The kids were shown an unloaded 1894 Winchester rifle and a six-shooter from the gunslinger era.
After receiving numerous complaints, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning began investigating the field trip. After that investigation, state officials handed the school a cease and desist order. According to the investigators, the childcare program was taking place in a part of the school that was unlicensed for childcare.
On the school’s Facebook page, most of the comments seemed to support the school’s decision to take the kids on a field trip, calling it a good opportunity to teach kids about gun safety and a part of our history. What do you think?
The photos seem to have been removed from the Facebook page, but the one illustrating this post was sourced from Facebook by cbs46.com.
