And today’s lesson is... how to shoot terrorists
Force slammed after primary pupils try ‘guns’
PARENTS have accused police of glamorising guns by letting primary school pupils “shoot” fake weapons.
The Year Three children were snapped giggling as they aimed plastic replicas at “terrorist” targets on a training range.
Pictures of the seven and eight-yearolds were then posted on West Midlands Police’s social media accounts. But some parents criticised the force and school for “putting out the wrong message”.
One dad, named only as David, added: “Police even put out a press release entitled Ready, Aim... Smile! What it does is glamorise guns and makes shooting terrorists nothing more than a game.”
Mike Tromans, headteacher at Kings Norton Primary School in Birmingham, said parents gave their consent for last month’s class visit to an armed response team. Pupils had sent thank-you letters to police after recent terror attacks.
He said: “This was part of a wider event where children were invited to learn about police and the work they do. It’s about the bigger picture. It’s about what is being done to protect our way of life.” The force’s Sgt Mike Dunbar added: “We want children to feel at ease approaching our officers.
“You can see from the photos and the looks on the kids’ faces that they all had a wonderful time.”