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The National Safety Council rates archery
more accident free than every popular ball sport, including tennis and
golf. When one puts a ball in the air and kids get running, jumping and
spinning around almost anything can happen. You expect injuries whether
its turned ankles, twisted knees or torn ligaments. Archery allows
students to be taught a safe, lifetime skill they can practice almost
anywhere. More than 500,000 students have participated in NASP
since its inception in 2002 and there have been no accidents.
To address safety
concerns, while the students are shooting the teachers stand at the
shooting line. Everything is done with whis tle
commands, as students are instructed to pick up the bow, walk to the
firing line and pick up one arrow. Always pointing it downrange in
a safe direction, they fire three or more shots upon command, rack the
bow and return to the waiting line. Then the whistle allows them
to go downrange and withdraw the arrows out of the target in a safe
manner. When they carry the arrows back, they carry them covering
the tips so there's no possibility of someone getting hurt.
It is almost unheard of for a person to
injure himself/herself or another person while shooting bow and arrow.
Students have the opportunity to shoot at bulls-eye targets placed
before an arrow-resistant net in their gymnasium. This allows the course
to be
conducted any time of the year, regardless of the weather. It can also
be adapted to outdoor ranges. When setting up the range, safety of
the shooters, observers and bystanders is of the utmost importance.
Teacher
training includes, "How to set-up a safe indoor shooting range":
Archery Safety Insight by Arrowsport (PDF)
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