I consider myself fortunate to have learned marksmanship fundamentals at 9 yrs of age in a smallbore junior program many years ago.
Safety, fundamentals of marksmanship, responsibility and discipline were just a few of the benefits, not to mention profound respect for the lethality of even one shot from the little old .22.
Even though the 22 LR is an economical cartridge, when you're a kid money did not come easily. You learned to control yourself and make each shot count.
We started in prone position with single shot Remingtons. Eventually, you worked up to kneeling, sitting and standing, maybe with a nice repeater like a Winchester 52 or an Anschütz.
It's a free country and we all have our reasons for choosing the guns we have. I get it that blasting away with a 10/22 can be fun, but I personally prefer to still make each shot count.
I don't mean to offend anyone, but I think we'd be a lot better off as a society if we chose to expose all young people to a more disciplined use of firearms, rather than just appealing to instant gratification. An accurate single shot .22 is just the ticket.
Jim