One mother of a 7-year-old who attends Mandarin Oaks Elementary in Jacksonville, Fla., was reportedly appalled that the school chose to bring the widely praised, award-winning Eddie Eagle GunSafe® message to students in her child’s classroom. Instead, she simply teaches her child that all guns are bad. "They’ve just undone seven years of parenting in one hour,” she lamented.
School administrators did acknowledge their failure to notify the parents that the course was going to be presented, but they made no apologies for bringing Eddie Eagle to the school.
“The program is about gun safety,” said Dr. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Duval County Schools. “Information that many students are unaware of and could save their lives.”
Laureen Ricks, a DCPS spokesperson, concurred. “The Eddie Eagle gun safety program was chosen because its gun-safety message is packaged in an engaging and easily relatable presentation that resonates with students.”
