The Kids S.A.F.E. Foundation recently taught a class in Tualatin Oregon, at the Cabela’s store. We had a kid that joined us that is vision impaired. He had a brain tumor at a young age that effected his optical nerve. It was this situation that left him permanently blind. He still has the the ability to see shapes and bright colors but cannot see anything clearly. What started off as learning experience for our organization on how best we reach all children has quickly morphed into action. The benefits of being a smaller organization is the ability to change course in a moment instead of having a huge bureaucracy stagnate and prevent course corrections. 

From the very beginning of our program it has been our goal to reach every kid. What does that mean exactly? It means we go where other organizations cannot and do the work other organizations won’t! Today there is always talk of inclusivity but in reality this inclusiveness only happens if the audience subscribes to the presenters ideology. This truly prevents free thinking and puts people in boxes in the name of diversity. If we are going to save lives in the name of gun safety, we have to think outside of the box. We have to understand how our children learn, when we understand how they learn then we can tailor the message best to fit that audience. 

This is something I have learned firsthand in front of the kids. In my professional career, as the President of the Kids S.A.F.E. Foundation. I have around 3000 hours in front of the kids talking about guns, video games, and, nerf/airsoft guns. It has been this very experience that has brought me tremendous joy and has taught me how to be an effective 2A advocate with the next generation. Part of what we do is we identify trends, we identify vulnerabilities, and we develop processes to help protect children. 

The boy we met recently longed for normalcy and to be treated just like every other kid and that is just what we did. We just did things differently then we would normally do. First we had to identify the best way to reach him. Some kids are visual learners, some audible learners, and some learn kinesthetically. Since he had a vision issue we had to adjust to accentuate his auditory senses. We also allowed him to touch different surfaces. This allowed him to identify critical parts and ones that he needed to stay away from if he was ever put in a dangerous situation. We had him identify the grip area by feel, also the trigger guard, so he would know where to keep his finger out of. This also helped him understand where his muzzle was oriented. These are all of the basic safety principles that we cover. We teach young kids to follow rules because rules instill order. When they follow orders it help teach safety, discipline, and respect for firearms. This will help develop the next generation of voters and responsible gun owners. 

We are currently developing curriculum for teens and translating our information into Russian, Chinese, Spanish, mandarin, ASL, and Arabic. The reason that we are doing this is to be truly inclusive and to offer meaningful solutions across a broader spectrum, we have to have educational materials for ALL kids. Not just the ones with English as a first language. The way that we look at it is from a data standpoint. Every life lost is a line item on a spreadsheet. Children with lack of educational opportunities have a higher probability of mortality and this is why this extra development is so critical to the preservation of life and our 2A rights. We look forward to the further evolutions of our program to help protect children. Until next time. Be safe!!