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Filed under: Teens & tweens, Health & safety, In the news, Playground bureau, Weird but true, Extreme childhoodAmerica is a country that likes its guns, and in many rural and suburban areas this is prime hunting season. Some are asking when -- and if -- it is permissible to take the kids with you when you don your camouflage and hang out in the duck blind.The state of Georgia doesn't require hunters under the age of 16 to be licensed, but it does require unlicensed minors to hunt with an adult. However, kids between the ages of 12 and 15 can legally hunt without supervision if they complete a hunter education course. And hey, if you're short on time, you can take the class online.Huh? What? Let me get this straight -- you're going to give a 13-year-old a shotgun and let them go into the woods ALL BY THEMSELVES? After they take a class on the Internet?Look at this objectively -- even if you are in favor of hunting, you have to question the wisdom of letting tweens and teens hunt alone. These are people who aren't allowed to vote or drink alcohol. Heck, they aren't even eligible for the draft. Which, by the way, would give them a gun. After they turn 18.My dad went through a "mountain man" phase when I was about 9 years old, hunting pheasant with a buddy in the Allegheny mountains. He even tried to get us to eat it, after telling us it "tastes like chicken."It did not taste like chicken.My point is that I'm no stranger to shotguns in the house, and even though hunting isn't my cup of tea, I don't care if you want to sit outside all day and shoot at ducks. Good for you. But to let a kid who can't even drive a car use a gun? Without supervision? That seems like asking for trouble.What do you think?View Poll Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST at http://www.parentdish.com/2008/11/18/tak...this-year/
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