My thoughts on kids (11-14yr olds) playing paintball

[mjs1217]

As some of you know, I am 13 years old and have been playing paintball since I was 11. I also try to respect other players as much as possible, discourage use of a paintball gun by my peers in any place other than a shooting range, closed off backyard, or field, and never use my paintball gun in an inappropriate manner. However, I am considered to be "advanced" for my age, and thusly slightly more mature than most of my peers, many of whom often do stupid things with their paintball markers and gear that setback the sport even further.
I would just like to say that, contrary to the opinion held by many people, paintball players or otherwise, not all people my age are "stupid little kids". While, unfortunately, many of them are quite immature, there are a few responsible players my age out there.
I just thought I would bring this to your attention.


-Matt

[*ArKfEaR*]

lol kid, chill out on the graded essay type writing.

GJ though ..

A if it was getting graded.

Heh :D

[Mag Master 04]

Any the pulitzer prize for outstanding vocabulary goes to a phony 13 year old. :rolleyes:

[Miscue]

Knock it off ya turd burglars. There's nothing wrong with what he wrote.

[mjs1217]

Thanks Miscue.

[_Spork_1]

Originally posted by mjs1217
As some of you know, I am 13 years old and have been playing paintball since I was 11. I also try to respect other players as much as possible, discourage use of a paintball gun by my peers in any place other than a shooting range, closed off backyard, or field, and never use my paintball gun in an inappropriate manner. However, I am considered to be "advanced" for my age, and thusly slightly more mature than most of my peers, many of whom often do stupid things with their paintball markers and gear that setback the sport even further.
I would just like to say that, contrary to the opinion held by many people, paintball players or otherwise, not all people my age are "stupid little kids". While, unfortunately, many of them are quite immature, there are a few responsible players my age out there.
I just thought I would bring this to your attention.


-Matt


heres my respect for you before this thread | | heres it after this thread | | '


i respect you so much mroe now!

your friends don't relaly set the sport back, trust me.

[Lee]

turd burglar.....HA!! that was funny.

[Bubonic Plauge]

Turd Bugler!

LOL...I am putting that into my repetoire (sp).

[mjs1217]

Spork, yes I suppose I may have been wrong. A kid shooting off another kid's ear and making him deaf in that ear for life doesnt set back the sport, it just temporarily delays it right?

And Lee, I believe he stole that from The Simpsons (..or was it South Park...?):D

[Mallagant]

I'm 17 and i believe that my friends set the sport back much further than your's would ever dream of doing. *mutters about morons* Its just a person to person thing...some people like to play paintball and others like to shoot nieborhood cats...and houses.

[Lee]

had to be south park.

[mjs1217]

Mallagant, this is exactly what I'm talking about. If someone gets hurt in one of those acts of delinquency, then the sport will take a hit. Gee, does anyone remember those two kids who shot a guy on skates with a paintball gun, sending him into a coma?

[CaptaiN_JacK]

first, mjs, we all know thats not how u normally talk to stop acting like ur a really smart, mature 13 yr old. second, i dont think that paintball accidents/people doing dumb things with pb guns sets pb back any more than people having accidents/doing stupid stuff in other sports. ALL sports have their share of accidents, from being stupid or not.


sure, pb gets set back sometimes, but so do all other sports.

[Peach]

Originally posted by mjs1217
Mallagant, this is exactly what I'm talking about. If someone gets hurt in one of those acts of delinquency, then the sport will take a hit. Gee, does anyone remember those two kids who shot a guy on skates with a paintball gun, sending him into a coma?

Hahaha.... Thats sad but I would have paid to see that...

[logamus]

lets remember what we learned from "bambi" guys, if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all. ;)

[mjs1217]

Captain Jack, granted that all sports have stupid people doing stupid things in them, but paintball already has a bad reputation, falsely of course. This is due in part to all the TV programs capturing the sport as a war game and not a fun, capture the flag-type game. This allows the incidents to have a greater impact on the sport. Also, I do usually talk "like this", if by that you mean using my vocabulary to it's full extent, and using correct punctuation, capitilization, and grammar. Although most kids my age do not do any of these, the entire point of this thread is to show that not all kids my age are the people who act like idiots and use incorrect grammar.

[logamus]

mjs, you are fighting an uphill battle. one that your "maturity" should steer you away from imho. the number of 11-14 yo males that behave in a respectable manner is so minute compared to the total number in that classification that its a point not really worth debating. nobody likes being sterotyped, but the fact is that sterotypes are there because for the vast majority of that group the type holds true. you see, for every "mature" 13 yo boy out there you will find one million punk 13 yo boys. my advice to you is to do the mature thing and walk away from this thread as it becomes engulfed in flames.

ps: remember to only post your sig once per thread. :)

[Peach]

I think 15 year olds should be included in this too. Today I was walking back from a Fread Meyers(Like a Target) through an apartment complex with a friend. Due to some strange compulsion to buy something that shoots, I purchased a 2 dollar and 50 cent dart gun. It shoots little rubber darts that go about 13 feet. Anyways, on our way through the appartment complex we spotted some ducks. Muahah :D . So, right as Iwas going to pull the trigger, some hick on the seccond level yelled at us. Something to the extent of, "If you touch that duck I'm gunna shoot ya." Now, the adult part of me said, "Just walk away." But! The kid part of me... Well, you know... Blast the damn duck! I'm 99.9% mature at all times... But shooting the duck was fun! We ran like hell laughing really hard... Lol...

I'm sure you've done something stupid, you're no angel, none of us are. A sin is a sin in Gods eyes, great or small the same punishment applies. I'd take logamus' advise and stop acting like an egocentric rich kid. Just because you decide to plan your posts in such a way a college student writing his doctoral thesis would to prove you are "mature" is not setting a very good example.

[Schnitzel]

I applaud you for your mature perspective on how things can be screwed up by a few...not many people your age seem to think that way, I would even say that some twice your age display less maturity.

...And as for jumping on him for using grammar and punctuation, those who bagged on him should be ashamed. There's nothing wrong with taking pride in what you write. Puncuative and syntax rules were created to be used, not to be used as an example to dump on someone because it seems out of mature context.

And peach, I don't know if you're aware of it, but the roller blader that was sent into a coma, he died later. A comment such as: "thats sad, but i would have paid to see that", kinda takes a different light, doesn't it? So if you want to talk maturity, I'll pay to see it.

[Peach]

Was he wearing protective gear?

[Army]

Idiots are found at all ages. Keep playing straight up ball to set the example.




(...and you spelled "grammar" wrong:) )

[_Spork_1]

Originally posted by mjs1217
[B]Spork, yes I suppose I may have been wrong. A kid shooting off another kid's ear and making him deaf in that ear for life doesnt set back the sport, it just temporarily delays it right?
B]

what, i don't even believe taht

that's just being stupid,

[Schnitzel]

thanks army.

As far as protective gear goes, he surely wasn't wearing any paintball gear, as he wasn't engaged in the sport. Apparently some kids shot at him on a bike/rollerblade path from their house. People say that he lost his balance, and fell backwards, striking his head on the pavement, so as far as rollerblade protective gear goes, I don't think he was wearing a helmet. I also dont think he lasted 72 hrs.

in retrospect, Peach, I apologize if my comments may have come off as rude and/or harsh. I jest felt really bad for the man, and anger was my expression. Sorry if I offended you.

[gDawg]

why are you even debating this, somebody getting shot by some idiot kids is not gonna make paintball any less of a sport...

[TheBigRaguPB4L]

Originally posted by Schnitzel


...And as for jumping on him for using grammar and punctuation, those who bagged on him should be ashamed. There's nothing wrong with taking pride in what you write. Puncuative and syntax rules were created to be used, not to be used as an example to dump on someone because it seems out of mature context.



Have some idiot write one big run on paragraph and there's 80 people there to yell at him. Have someone write something relatively properly and he gets told that he shouldn't write it properly because he's 13. Makes sense to me.

I really don't think that idiot kids shooting people from their cars is going to hurt the sport. Sure it's really not going to help it, but it's really not going to do anything severe. How many people have died from getting beaten to death with a baseball bat? Oh no, it's dangerous, better ban it. Not going to happen. People are going to use things as how they're not intended. There will even be idiot liberals that think by banning the sport, that such incedents will cease. Paintball is still growing, and i really doubt that a group of immature kids doing stupid things is going to change that.

[mjs1217]

Well, you do have a good point. However I still believe that all of the negitive incidents that involve immature use of a paintball marker or equipment will still have an impact on paintball, be it banning the sport, or maybe just a parent saying that his or her kid can't ever play it again. Both of those events, and everything inbetween, sets paintball back to some degree.

Also, for the record, paintball is already banned or heavily restricted in some areas. One such area is the entire country of Australia (no semi-auto markers allowed, and severe restrictions on all other markers available).

[mjs1217]

(By the way, I edited all my messages so I only have my signiture posted once due to logamus's suggestion)

[Snake847]

here is a Sociological point of view....80% of the pupulation do 20% of the work and 20% of the population do 80% of the work.
Example:
20% of the beer drinkers drink 80% of the beer.

[mjs1217]

While that was very amusing, what does it have to do with the thread?

[Snake847]

just commenting on the fact that a small number of the age group are mature, while the rest are still kids.

[mjs1217]

Ahhhh, gotchya :)

[Russ]

Hmm, a fella makes an inteligent, well-written post, and a few of AO's idiots get down him for writting a well-written, intelligent post. (Russ ponders his thoughts for a moment...)

There are immature paintball players, for sure, but they come in every age group. I have seen men older than me (and I'm oooold!) do some very stupid stuff. So remember, stupidity knows no boundries. Stupid kids grow up to be stupid adults :p

[Snake847]

haha how true. I have seen some stupid adults.

[tony3]

I'm 14, and I won't be afraid to say that I no more about the tech aspect then most people on my team and most people at the field in general. I'm not an immature 14 year old punk so I don't really care, I try to stir my friends away from shooting cars and doing stupid stuff, but I don't make descions for them, personally, I have met tons of 12-15 years old at the field that have nice gear, are responsible, no how to take care of there stuff, and are really nice, more 16-18 years old paintball then 13-15, its a true fact, you just got to prove your self to the older group of guys

[ZyperioN]

I pity the player who stereo-types me as some 14 year-old newbie, cause he's about to get a serious awakening, personally i dont mind the stereo-type, just one more advantage for me on the field. People who know me include me in the top-players at our field, so i dont care what other people stereo-type me as.

[breg]

Personally, I've been playing for about a year. I've seen children so young that they had to have their parents sign off on them playing, and people so old, I thought that they were there to watch their kids or grandkids play. That is the beauty of all of this. That is the beauty of all of this, you can play well at any level. Some of the best fun I've had at the field has been BSing with younger teenagers about paintball (remember I'll be 23 this november), and some of the worst behavior I've seen comes from the older players. You know, the ones who should be setting the example for the younger players.
I really make no allowances for age or gender, and when we are on the field, I'm going to shoot you, and I hope you (try :D ) to do the same to me.
As for people misusing paint markers, I guess there isn't much you can do. People are goning to do what they do. You can be around them 24/7 to make sure that they are not going to do something stupid. The main problem is lack of self control and respect. When a person lights off a paint marker in a non-designated area, they put them selves at risk, others at risk, show complete disregard for any established safety rules.
Sad thing is that I know that most of the idiots with paint markers are closer to my age. And, the idea that someone would shoot another person while they are not wearing a mask is not right...

I've rambeled enough,

Later,

Breg

[_Spork_1]

Originally posted by mjs1217

One such area is the entire country of Australia (no semi-auto markers allowed, and severe restrictions on all other markers available).

then how the hell does Mac dev make their sonic cockers and products?

[mjs1217]

Well, I was unaware that Macdev is Australian based, but I'm not sure what the exact rules reguarding paintball markers are. Perhaps their factory is not in Australia? Reguardless, I do know that there are strict laws reguarding paintball in Australia.