I cant really speak as a kid anymore since im 21 now but until about two years ago, i didn't know anything about guns. growing up, my dad had a few rifles, a couple shotguns and a revolver but he never really shot them much and so i really didn't learn anything from him. i bought a 10/22 when i was 18 and that was all i had for a couple years. i started researching guns and trying to learn all i could about them (how they work, whats legal, cost, etc) while i was in college because i didn't have a whole lot of classes. i have learned quite a bit from the internet in the past 2 years but most of it in about the last 6 months from this website. i was an engineering student and designed a 50 caliber rifle using Pro-Engineer(thats why i wanted to know how they worked). My dad has a Marlin Model 60 that he took to a gunsmith about 10 years ago because it wasn't ejecting right and the gunsmith told him that its not worth fixing because there is so much work involved in fixing it, so its been sitting in the safe since then(he didn't want to get rid of it because his parents gave it to him when he was a kid). Well needless to say, one night i was bored and decided to see what the internals of a model 60 looked like. well i took it apart, did a little research, and found a spring that had been put in wrong. i took it apart and put it back together the right way and oiled it up and went out and shot it the next day and it worked like a dream. now at the age of 21, i own a 10/22, an ar-15, an sks, and a 50 caliber(not the one i designed though). i definately owe alot to the people of this forum for teaching me so much. so by all means, dont block your kids from gun forums, especially The High Road!!!