Monday, March 24, 2008 Rama: Summer fun for the kids By Karlon N. Rama Stage Five
IT’S been a few days since the school year officially ended. And, while some schools have yet to hold their commencement exercises, the summer break has officially begun.
And with that, many parents are now looking for a good summer program to keep their kids busy.
Swimming is one of the more popular programs available and scores of providers offer the program for all ages.
Martial Arts is also a viable alternative. I would prefer one with a cultural flavor though and, for obvious reasons, I recommend Eskrima.
I am now compiling a list of Eskrima schools within Metro Cebu, their addresses and contact information. I’ll post it at www.eskrima.multiply.com for reference as soon as it is finished.
Another good Martial Art to learn is Wushu. The Cebu Chapter of the Philippine Wushu Federation continues to meet and practice at the Samanthabadra Institute along Banilad Road.
The Chian Hsi Chuan Internal Arts Society also meets every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night at the Cebu City Sports Complex.
Guns n’ Kids. But for kids whose parents keep firearms in the house, however, I suggest the shooting sports.
While seeing kids as early as 10 years old learning to shoot guns might be controversial to some parents, there is nothing perilous about it.
Under a program offered by the Kamagong Gun Club, based inside the AFP Central Command Firing Range in Barangay Apas, the children, ages 10 up, first undergo sessions on gun safety before they are even allowed to touch a gun.
Only afterwards are they slowly introduced to shooting by a team of instructors and safety marshals.
The guns used in the class include single-shot pneumatic guns from Fenwerkbau and CZ, which shoot pellets.
Through these, the rudiments of safe gun handling, proper range etiquette and the basics of marksmanship are introduced.
The lessons then graduate to the use of live-fire .22 cal. rifles, like the Ruger 10/22, and .22 pistols, like the 22/45, also from Ruger.
Central to all of the lessons is that guns aren’t toys but are potentially dangerous equipment that can seriously hurt, even kill, if used inappropriately.
Parents who may be interested to enroll their kids can e-mail rangemarshal@gmail.com for details. Slots are limited to seven students per class.
Gun-proofing. Reading or hearing news reports about how a kid accidentally shot himself or somebody else never fails to disturb me.
This was why, in the Jan. 7, 2008 issue of Stage Five, I expressed support for two house bills, designated as HB 1004 and HB1324, which seeks to penalize gun owners who fail to prevent their under-aged children from accessing guns in the house.
Two other bills, HB 241 and HB 1218, seek to require local firearm manufacturers to put integral devices in their guns to prevent a kid of seven from discharging it by reason of strength, dexterity or cognitive skill.
The proposed law also seeks to prohibit dealers from selling guns that don’t have such devices.
And while the second set of bills cannot, by its very nature, be enforced on paltik weapons—guns made in the backyard and sold on the alleyways—I voiced my support nevertheless.
However, in the same piece, I also pointed out that the bills, even if they get passed into law, will only solve half the problem.
The best solution against kids inadvertently discharging a gun they accidentally find lying around is still to train them on what to do.
Mea Culpa. Team AFP, which won first place in the Mil-Sim games organized by Team EMC in Barangay Gaas, Balamban, last March 15, wasn’t a contingent from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Instead, they were the fighting band of civilian brothers from Airsoft Force Philippines, based in Liloan, Cebu, who mere wanted to be part of the action in the event held to celebrate the 51st death anniversary of former president Ramon Magsaysay.
I have nothing but the lamest excuse to offer—the list of winners released by the event organizers only had acronyms. And since the AFP had always sent delegations to Team EMC-organized Mil-Sim games, the association was easy to mistakenly make.
Nevertheless, why some people can’t find better names for their teams elude me.
