Is Paintball safe for kids? Yes With the correct Paintball gun and Paintball gear, Paintball can be safe for kids.
This was the first question that I wrestled with when I started doing research on Paintball for my two sons.
At the beginning I found info hard to come by so I started this blog to share my research and experience so as to help other parents who might have paintballer for kids.
Disclaimer
I am no Paintball Expert if there is such a thing, I am just a Dad who did his research and with two paintballers for Sons.
Paintball Injuries Statistics
Sadly Paintball tends to have an ill-deserved bad reputation when Statistically, Paintball is one of the safest sport for kids to play with 45 injuries for every 100,000 participants.
Comparatively, it is much safer than basketball or football.
Most of the injuries that do occur in Paintball are due to slips and falls, basically injuries a child could get playing football or basketball.
Why Paintball is Safe for Kids.
Paintball can be vilified by the media and sometimes by our own imagination as an unsafe sport, especially for our kids.
Though we seem to conveniently forget that all our major sports from football, basketball, and wrestling can cause injuries. Yet we give paintball a disproportionally high bad name.
I think Paintball like all sports has risks attached to them yet I think paintball because of various factors of which I discuss in this article is as safe as any sport or much safer in some cases.
Does Paintball Hurt and How Much Does it Hurt ?.
I am sure this question is on your mind so I wanted to tackle it upfront.
And the answer is Yes, paintball does hurt. Alot of factors will come into play on how much it hurts.
You can read a lot more in detail about this in my article Does Paintball Hurt?
Is Paintball Too Dangerous for kids and Can it cause Bruises and Injuries
Yes, you do have to be worried that paintball can be dangerous especially Compressed Air Paintball, which can cause injuries and a reasonable amount of bruising.
Only Compressed Air Paintball guns can cause bruising and Paintball Injuries.
Spring Powered Paintball Guns won’t cause any bruises.
What can we do to make Paintball Safe for our kids?
When you send your little one to play football do we send them out there with just basic tee shirts and pants?
No, we give them the best helmets and paddings to keep them safe.
The same is with paintball where there is a bit of risk. Yet I believe and have with my two sons, offset some of those risks by giving them the best gear and armor to ensure they don’t have those injuries.
If your child is not too well please seek consultation with a doctor before playing paintball or any intense sports
- Do Research
One of the most important things we can do for our kids when getting them involved in any activity is to do your research read as much as you can and even go to paintball fields and talk to the owner they are usually happy to help out.
I guess you already know this since you found your way onto my blog so congrats you are already on the right path.
- Chose the Correct Paintball Gun
You as a parent should ensure the paintball guns you buy for kids are safe for their age group.
That is to see if they are not too powerful and of the right caliber to cause extreme bruising.
When I bought my two boys their Paintball guns. I made sure to test them on myself, to feel how it felt and see if it was safe for them. (My wife enjoyed pulling the trigger a little too much).
You can read my article on the Best Paintball Gun for Kids to help guide you on the correct gun for your kids
- Get Your kids the Right Gear.
This is a must we need to buy the appropriate, paintball mask, and correct paintball ammo for our kids.
Don’t worry I got you covered you can check out my article on the Does Paintball Hurt with Armor where I will guide on the necessary protection kids need whilst playing Paintball.
Basic Safety Rules and Guidelines for PaintBall For Kids.
These are basic rules your gonna need to sit down and discuss with your kids before they start playing paintball.
1-Only Shoot At Players within the Game
Make sure you tell your kids that they can only fire at individuals who are playing in their game and fully equipped in the right gear. Explain to them that without the mask or armor they can hurt someone.
2- Must be fully Suited Up before Playing
A lot of kids get carried away once their accustomed to the sting the paintball has, so much so that they sometimes forget or even refuse to wear their gear.
This is a major No No. You see if a paintball hits in a sensitive area like their eyes it can cause severe damage.
My advice is to make sure you explain why they need to always have on armor and also set a punishment if this rule is broken. Mine is I take away their paintball guns for a month.
3- No shooting at Animals
Do I need to explain this one?
4- Always ensure your paintball gun has a Barrel/Cover
When your paintball gun is loaded with paintball and you are not actively playing please explain to your kids that they need to always have a barrel cover on.
This is to ensure that if they accidentally pull the trigger the cover will catch the paintball and prevent injuries.
5- Have a Signal or Words to mean Time Out
This is important make sure you have a way that your kids can call a timeout. My two boys wave a handkerchief to signal a break.
6- Never look down the Barrel of a Paintball gun
What I tell my sons is that even when they think are empty what they should do is aim and pull the trigger to ensure that no paintballs are left in the gun.
7- Absolutely no Physical Contact
In the heat of battle, our kids can get a bit carried away sometimes and maybe even start a fight.
Emphasise that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and will be punished.
8- Ensure Paintball Guns are Set to the Recommended Paintball Speed
If you your kids plan to use Spring Powered paintball Guns like the Splatmaster then disregard this rule, those guns don’t fire strong enough to need this.
Now if your kids play with Compressed Air/liquid CO2 Paintball guns then please ensure the paintball guns are set to shoot at the recommended 270-280 feet per second.
Anything higher and you can get a lot of bruising.
Why You Should Let Your Kids Play PaintBall
So I know you might be asking why paintball for kids especially if it has a bit of risk attached.
But do we really want to send that message to our kids that once something has risks involved that they shouldn’t do it?
Paintball is often touted as a perfect way to teach kids teamwork and as an easy and fun way to get lots of exercises.
I think paintball can pass on one more great lesson which is to embrace risks and pain.
Life will always entail risks from starting a business to asking the love of your life to marry you, what we need to teach our kids is to take these risks and embrace a bit of discomfort to get ahead in life.
Conclusion
Paintball, in my opinion, can be a very safe sport for our kids as long as proper guidance is given.
I would like to end by asking you to use your own judgment, not all kids are the same. Some are more mature than others. So know your kids and know what they can and cant handle.
If you still feel a bit hesitant about Paintball you can check out my Q and A Section of my Blog where I tackle question such as What is the Appropriate Age for Paintball?
