As underscored by a recent controversy about a casting call seeking quirky characters for a film set in a "holler," West Virginians are sensitive about being viewed in stereotypical terms. So what did their legislators go and do? Pass a law to teach hunting in public schools. So much for valuing education.

Hunting is not itself the problem -- it can be defended as a traditional pastime on several grounds. Although this newspaper supports gun control in general, the Post-Gazette has always supported hunters, providing space to cover their outdoor activities and recognizing that as a group they are overwhelmingly law-abiding.

In those parts of the country where hunting is the custom, West Virginia and Pennsylvania among them, many of its adherents are proud to say that it is an activity passed on from parents to children. But for whatever reason, hunting is in a national decline -- and that's what motivated state Senate Majority Whip Billy Wayne Bailey to introduce the measure.

It's problematic enough that a lawmaker thinks that educators have a role in reviving a cultural practice previously sustained by individuals and families. But upholding tradition appears to be only part of it -- upholding government revenues is the other part.

Hunting generates $270 million for West Virginia's economy and sustains 5,000 jobs, according to state figures. The general decline of hunting, plus falling junior hunter participation (down from 28,000 hunters aged 12 to 15 in 1997 to 11,000 in 2006), hurts all that.

If a social custom is in decline -- an expression of free choice -- then arguably it should be left to decline. The real loser here is the educational process, which surely has better things to do than teach hunting. Whatever happened to the three R's?

It could have been worse. The 10-hour course is an elective and it's been left to the discretion of county superintendents and school principals whether to offer it. It's still an embarrassment.