British bushcraft - a dying art?

[Paganwolf]

I disagree there, its not the poor shooting birds for food that you all to often see on the tv swans with arrows sticking out of them, its scumbags with nowt else to do but attempt to kill something with a hookey cross bow or bow and arrow they have just got hold of, or more likely now days immigrants who know no better and think its acceptable to do here as they do back in their own country, same goes for Guns and shooting, if you taught shooting in schools it would make thugs better shots when killing other thugs with illegal firearms :togo: , Hmmmmm now actually may be thats a good idea or would be if innocent people didnt get tied up in shootings oh to often
Also it woulld make more inner city youths more interested in getting a gun where illegal firearms are much to easy to get hold of.
These inner city places or rough areas as you say are places you wouldnt walk the streets, Barking, Newham and the Eastend for one example arnt like a good old episode of eastenders any more they are a battle ground for locals and immigrants.(have a walk down eastham high road on a saturday night, not a good place to be as kicking out time)
But thats a whole other story, wood craft and natural / nature awareness would be better there are lots of inactive coppaces around why not get schools involved in bringing them back to life and teach woodland crafts, rather than making scummers more interested in shooting things.

 

[Tengu]

Where is this report, Robin wood?

 

[Matt.S]

If shooting and archery were cheaply avialable in poor areas so the people that get poor enough to consider shooting a park duck for tea knew what poundage it took kill evan a small animal maybe there would be less animal cruelty. I am also sure it would reduce the status of possessing a gun in rough areas if shooting was taught in urban schools. We have municible golf ranges why don't we have the same for target shooting.

Shooting has long been a staple at many 'posh' (private) schools. Finally, after much pressure from us in the know, teachers have started to recognise the evidence we have that shooting in fact does help students in many ways. The number of schools particpating in shooting is growing.

It is far from obvious to those who have never shot a gun or bow, or done it at all seriously (I'm not talking about blatting a few cans in your back yard at 3 paces) but shooting requires a lot of concentration and self discpline to be even marginally good. This follows the shooter when they're not on the firing point, and is recognised by those teachers who actually have experience of it (granted, not the majority) that it helps pupils to work.

I don't think that teaching kids to shoot will make them kill people more, in fact the opposite. Guns in our society have something of an aura of mystery about them. Kids see them on TV and the big screen, but not in real life. Exposing kids to real guns in a correct, stuctured, safe environment is a good way to reduce the whole 'ah col man it's a Glack fohtay you iz bangin' thing.

 

[xylaria]

I disagree there, its not the poor shooting birds for food that you all to often see on the tv swans with arrows sticking out of them, its scumbags with nowt else to do but attempt to kill something with a hookey cross bow or bow and arrow they have just got hold of, or more likely now days immigrants who know no better and think its acceptable to do here as they do back in their own country, same goes for Guns and shooting, if you taught shooting in schools it would make thugs better shots when killing other thugs with illegal firearms :togo: , Hmmmmm now actually may be thats a good idea or would be if innocent people didnt get tied up in shootings oh to often
Also it woulld make more inner city youths more interested in getting a gun where illegal firearms are much to easy to get hold of.
These inner city places or rough areas as you say are places you wouldnt walk the streets, Barking, Newham and the Eastend for one example arnt like a good old episode of eastenders any more they are a battle ground for locals and immigrants.(have a walk down eastham high road on a saturday night, not a good place to be as kicking out time)
But thats a whole other story, wood craft and natural / nature awareness would be better there are lots of inactive coppaces around why not get schools involved in bringing them back to life and teach woodland crafts, rather than making scummers more interested in shooting things.

My other 'alf was born and brought up in barking, I lived there for a year. I was brought up in a rough part of islington. I walked about at night and during the day and I can honestly say i didn't really notice any gun battles between any immigrants "that knew no better" and the local 'scummers'. Don't get me wrong, It wasn't the a bed of racial hormony and there was gun crime between drug dealers. I never watch eastenders. But I have worked with young offenders and I know the lads that were taken on 'holidays' over snowdonia in january by POs that were ex-army very rarely re-offended. I just feel you tell any kid a tool is tool they will use it as such. I don't ask for others to agree.

 

[robin wood]

Where is this report, Robin wood?

Its on my bookshelf Tengu.

But if you want a copy you can order one for £20 or read the summary and download it as PDF's for free here http://www.craftsintheenglishcountryside.org.uk/

It varies in its accuracy however I know several of the authors and some are more objective than others.

 

[Paganwolf]

you can take the girl out of islington but you cant take the islington out of the girl eh lol and Im not worried weather you agree or not, im just saying it how i see it, how long ago did you live there as I can remember it being ok 10 / 15 years ago, its a different place now.

You could probably get away with it in a middle class or private school as Matt says, but theres no way you could do it in some inner city schools that are forced to have metal detectors on their gates due to the knife crime and thats in the school, i think you should watch eastenders because it depicts a fairy land view on the areas that are the highest in crime. Giving Gun lessons in some of these schools would be like giving a fungi walk to them for example, one wrong identification given to a school kid could end up with them going into the field and picking a dodgy one and a life lost, just as an example of course .

But I still think nature and natural awareness should play a bigger part in schooling, If some schools showed children how to respect the natural world and others some places would be better places to live rather than teaching them the correct poundage of a bow to make a clean kill rather than wounding Oh and im not asking any one to agree either lol

 

[SimonM]

You could probably get away with it in a middle class or private school as Matt says, but theres no way you could do it in some inner city schools

I am a teacher in a residential special school for young people with severe Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties.

I regularly take trips to a local archery range with our pupils and this has proven to be such a success that I am taking a course this month to become an archery leader. School are then going to buy our own gear and we will offer archery as part of PE, as a reward for good behaviour and as part of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

All of the young people that I have taken to date start off being too cool to care if they hit the target, but that soon changes when they do!

One young lad has just joined an archery club close to school and shows a real talent for the sport.

This type of sport offers many advantages, not least eye hand co-ordination and discipline. However, I do not think that there is a place on the National Curriculum for archery as the petition mentioned earlier demands.

Simon

 

[Matt.S]

You could probably get away with it in a middle class or private school as Matt says, but theres no way you could do it in some inner city schools that are forced to have metal detectors on their gates due to the knife crime and thats in the school, i think you should watch eastenders because it depicts a fairy land view on the areas that are the highest in crime. Giving Gun lessons in some of these schools would be like giving a fungi walk to them for example, one wrong identification given to a school kid could end up with them going into the field and picking a dodgy one and a life lost, just as an example of course .

And just how many of the kids at each inner school are actually those who would go out and kill or rob someone? What makes them any 'worse' than private-school pupils just because their parents aren't as well-off? Inner-city schools are probably in the areas where the kids would most benefit from these 'neglected' education areas we are touching upon; foraging, wood carving, fihing, shooting etc. Show them that the real world isn't just concrete and Tesco basics.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I just feel you tell any kid a tool is tool they will use it as such. I don't ask for others to agree.

Well said! I have thought that about the current view of knives for some while. Tools are boring, weapons are cool, tell 'em its for peeling potatoes and trimming their finger nails and they wouldn't care for it. Tell them its dangerous, tell them that it scares adults, that it gives power, all you do is encourage them to see weapons rather than tools.

I don't think it much matters what you teach, shooting, martial arts, archery, or parkour for that matter, if they require displine to master, and this is taught, they will be beneficial. Lack of disipline and motivation seem to be somewhere at the root of many of the youth problems these days.

Sorry for the continued hijack.

 

[Switch01]

a good point britain is a mongrel nation of many cultures so its hard really to determin "british". i suppose the early neolithic pagans are a good starting point.
its true that bushcraft in britain should be kept alive. i am a backpacker and have been a fair few places but i honestly have no seen scenery like in the uk, we are lucky and dont realise it. as i am new to bushcraft in part of my persuits a good forum chat with ways and means would be great =D
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