Guns Sex and Education

Currently in Canada there are approximately 9, 950, 000 prohibited and non-prohibited firearms held by civilians, but only an estimated 2 million belong to fully licensed gun owners. The vast majority of licensed firearm owners are responsible civilians and obey the law. (GunPolicy, 2013) However, due to public safety concerns the Canadian Firearms Program has revoked over 22,000 firearms. Contrary to popular belief the minimum age requirement to obtain a firearms licence is only 12! (RCMP, 2013) In the essay Guns, Sex, and Education, the author Jamie O'Meara argues the use of firearms has become as prevalent as sex in our society. He also believes since youth have a similar level of curiosity towards guns, gun safety education should be introduced into the high school curriculum alongside sex education. (O'Meara, 2000) Introducing gun safety education into the high school curriculum will only give youth too much information and potentially lead to an increase in gun related crimes. Pop culture and mass media fuel and glamourizing gun violence, which have made firearms more accessible to today's youth.

Greek philosopher Aristotle believed violence depicted in art actually produced an experience of "catharsis: a relief from hostile or violent emotions, leading to feelings of space." Psychologist L. Rowell Huesmann looks closely into Aristotle's beliefs and states:

"True, media violence is not likely to turn an otherwise fine child into a violent criminal. But, just as every cigarette one smokes increases a little bit the likelihood of a lung tumor someday, every violent show one watches increases just a little bit the likelihood of behaving more aggressively in some situation." (Letts, 2013)

Huesmann examined data gathered from interviewing 856 youths at the age of 8; he followed up by interviewing them again at the age of 19 and finally 30. Among all the male subjects he interviewed, there was a positive and highly significant relationship between viewing television violence/video game violence and engaging in aggressive behaviour. When the male subjects were finally interviewed at the age of 30, the relationship was just as strong; based on self-reports and criminal records. Since the effect of pop culture and mass media has been so influential on today's youth, introducing them to gun education could make them more comfortable with violence. A prime example of violence in television shows is FX's hit show Sons of Anarchy, this series gives the viewers an insider view into an organized gang, and illegal activity such as "running" drugs and guns to other organized gangs within America. The characters manage to always avoid the law, but have to deal with the consequences of being involved in a biker gang. (Sutter, 2013) The violence does not end there, chances are many high school teenagers are avid video gamers, games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 glamourizes violence and crime. O'Meara mentions in his essay he was bored after getting a chance to use a gun, he believes the only way to "defuse the curiosity of a child is to address it head on." (O'Meara, 2000) If violence, prohibited firearms and crime was not glamourized by pop culture games such as Grand Theft Auto would not be sold out from pre-sales alone. Evidently guns and violence clearly are not boring, nor do young teens find them boring due to the way they are portrayed in pop culture. (Cook, 2013) The image of crime is portrayed through many influential figures; the role of advertising is a key factor in promoting gun violence. Due to all the unrestricted access today's youth have to pop culture and mass media, violent behaviour and guns have become a part of everyday life. Popular culture has only been fuelling gun violence, and youth that are exposed to gun violence at home, at school, in the community or in social media are more likely to be involved in gun related crimes.

O'Meara believes introducing gun safety education into a high school curriculum would be beneficial based on the same principle as sex education. He states, "adding a firearm component to the current curriculum in regions where guns are prevalent would achieve two things: it would satisfy the inherent inquisitiveness that children have about gun; and it would allow educators to monitor the reactions children have to weapons." (O'Meara, 2000) Similarly, sex education has been introduced into the school curriculum so students who are inquisitive about sexual activities can engage in safe behaviour to avoid an increase in young teenage birthrates and sexually transmitted diseases. Educators are unable to monitor what youth will do once they are in a different social environment, or able to control their actions once they have all the necessary information. In areas of North America, sex education is failing to reduce young teenage birthrates or sexually transmitted diseases since sexualisation in pop culture is extremely provocative. In Missouri, 45 percent of high school students admitted to being sexually active or had sex before, while 36 percent of the same student body did not use a condom the last time they engaged in sexual activity. (Cooke, 2013) As a result, Missouri has the highest population of adolescents with sexually transmitted diseases and the lowest rate of condom use. Their teen birth rate is also higher than that of the national average: "51 out of every hundred teenagers becomes pregnant compared to the twelve out of 100,000 gun deaths annually within the state." (Cooke, 2013) Sex education programs seem to have no effect at all; the same can be said for any type of gun safety program to current schools. The National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle Gun Safe Program is already being taught at Michigan elementary schools with the hope of reducing gun violence amongst youth. Eddie Eagle, an American Bald Eagle mascot, teaches kids in grades K-6 to "Stop. Don't Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult," when they see a gun. Over the past few years Wisconsin, Oregon, and New York State Legislatures have tried to pass bills to make Eddie Eagle a mandatory part of the school curriculum. None of the bills were successful. (Moore, 2013) If American's do not feel the need to mandate gun safety education into their schools then a country with safer statistics, such as Canada, should have no need either. Instead of trying to press legislations or