I had my own .410 shotgun at that age & knew how to handle it safely as well as clean it. I wasn't however handling fully automatic weapons. It was stupid of that instructor to let her handle that weapon without knowing if she could handle the recoil.
"How is it that a lame man does not annoy us while a lame mind does? Because a lame man recognizes that we are walking straight, while a lame mind says that it is we who are limping." - Pascal