# Why is nothing safe for kids to do these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202 "2010-09-09T17:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/101 "2010-09-12T17:59:38Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > > [@Otara](#): > > > > I wouldnt call that having learned the proper use of knives. > > > > Otara > > Me neither! That’s throwing knives at your friends! > > I’d happily let my daughter have a pen-knife if she needed one, but she doesn’t. We live in the city - what exactly is she going to use a penknife for? She does help with preparing veggies using a knife and has helped with sawing the few times we’ve done it. Those _are_ the proper uses of knives for a city kid. Opening packages is a big use for me. I’ve always carried a knife. Times have changed. When I was in school I made an 8" knife in shop class. Now a pen knife gets a student suspended. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/102 "2010-09-12T19:49:39Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@scifisam2009](#): > > > > Me neither! That’s throwing knives at your friends! > > > > I’d happily let my daughter have a pen-knife if she needed one, but she doesn’t. We live in the city - what exactly is she going to use a penknife for? She does help with preparing veggies using a knife and has helped with sawing the few times we’ve done it. Those _are_ the proper uses of knives for a city kid. > > Opening packages is a big use for me. I’ve always carried a knife. > > Times have changed. When I was in school I made an 8" knife in shop class. Now a pen knife gets a student suspended. I knew there would be people coming up with other examples of uses. 😃 I’m sure there are some, but none that are regular enough to require carrying a knife around. I don’t know about you, but I tend not to have to open packages anywhere but at home. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/103 "2010-09-12T21:24:34Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@scifisam2009](#): > > > > Me neither! That’s throwing knives at your friends! > > > > I’d happily let my daughter have a pen-knife if she needed one, but she doesn’t. We live in the city - what exactly is she going to use a penknife for? She does help with preparing veggies using a knife and has helped with sawing the few times we’ve done it. Those _are_ the proper uses of knives for a city kid. > > Opening packages is a big use for me. I’ve always carried a knife. > > Times have changed. When I was in school I made an 8" knife in shop class. Now a pen knife gets a student suspended. Good point – but you weren’t throwing those knives at your friends, I hope. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/104 "2010-09-12T21:29:40Z")
Not at their friends, Guinastasia. At the ground near their feet. Risky? I supposed it could be. No one every lost a toe that I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/105 "2010-09-12T22:01:23Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Not at their friends, Guinastasia. At the ground near their feet. Oh, well that makes it okay then. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/106 "2010-09-12T22:04:39Z")
Regardless, that has nothing to do with learning to use a knife properly. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/107 "2010-09-12T22:17:16Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Opening packages is a big use for me. I’ve always carried a knife. > > Times have changed. When I was in school I made an 8" knife in shop class. Now a pen knife gets a student suspended. You don’t really need a knife for that. Maybe it’s just crappy tape from amazon and that, but it’s ridiculously easy to open a package with a pen or mechanical pencil without damaging the utensil of choice. In fact, I usually can break it just by pulling on the top hard enough, which breaks the tape on one side, then the tape will rip in half really easily when you pull the two flaps apart. I only need to use a helper tool every once in a blue moon. I wouldn’t say using a knife makes it easier, but I guess it requires less creativity when figuring out how to open it. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/108 "2010-09-12T22:32:28Z")
I think, in the day, every male carried a pocket knife. Living out on the prairie there were many times a day when they were useful. The women also carried a dainty little knife in their handbags. I can remember my grandmother having one. The men, when retired, would sit on a bench downtown and whittle or in the evenings men would sit in the parlor and peel apples with them. That was a very common thing to see. No TV to entertain them. Don’t think people thought of them as weapons. Our conditioning has a great deal to do with what meaning we give to items. If you’ve grown up being told in school that a knife is a dangerous thing and not allowed, then you are more apt to think, “Danger!” when you see one than someone who grew up seeing nearly everyone using one for work or for play. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/109 "2010-09-12T22:36:53Z")
Okay. Here you go: > **[Victorian Sterling Silver Ladies Pocket Knife | #17888855](https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/victorian-sterling-silver-ladies-pocket-knife)** > > 19th Century ladys traveling and/or fruit knife with Beaux Arts style foliate scrollwork in sterling silver (front and back). Knife opens to reveal a large and small carbon steel blade and a nail fil See? Not such a scary thing. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/110 "2010-09-12T22:38:54Z")
I cant remember if ever being OK to bring a knife to school when I grew up, or matches for that matter. And yet somehow Ive managed to be able to use a knife and matches without being terrified of them. I suspect people are a bit more able to handle these issues than you seem to think. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/111 "2010-09-13T00:28:55Z")
Where did I say I was afraid of knives? I may not have taken shop, but I used bigger and sharper things than that taking art in high school. (Although we did have one girl who accidentally sliced the cord to the radio with the paper cutter. Someone had moved the radio and she didn’t notice…) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/112 "2010-09-13T00:53:00Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > It’s not just kids. After whatshername died in a skiing accident in Quebec last year the powers that be are considering mandatory helmet laws for ski resorts, both in Quebec and in Ontario too. > > Skiing with a helmet on would be like screwing with a condom on: fun, but not quite the same. I’m from the “don’t come home until just before dark” generation, and was sleeping unsupervised in snowbanks overnight by elementary school, so as one might expect, it used to be that I did not ski with a helmet aside from when I was racing. Over the years, helmet design has improved – better fit, adjustable ventilation, removable ear flaps for the spring, and earflaps wired for sound, etc. It got to be that I found myself prefering to wear a helmet, whereas in years past wearing a heavy bowling ball was literally a pain in the neck. I figure that smacking into something while cruising at 30-50+ mph could really scramble my brains, so given that ski helmets are no longer the embuggerances that they used to be, I wear one now for lift area skiing and back-country tree skiing. I can honestly say that a ski helmet has saved me when I took a nasty knock to the back of the head when I bounced one of my landings at speed – I was concussed with the helmet, so I shudder to think what would have resulted had I not worn the helmet. On another occasion some ice thrown up by my ski pierced my helmet, so again, I have to wonder what would have resulted had I not been wearing my helmet. If my province puts a ski helmet law in place, it will not upset me, and I think that overall it would be a good thing. It would make it easier on lift areas who have been promoting helmet use, for then they could point to the law as a justification for their policy. The ski industry, including manufacturers, retailers, video production companies, magazines, and ski areas, are doing an excellent job at promoting helmets as being “cool”, for that is what gets kids wearing them. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/113 "2010-09-13T01:06:49Z")
Susanann, would you please answer Qadgop’s question of of post 80, namely “What did you do in the ER?” ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/114 "2010-09-13T11:12:54Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Susanann, would you please answer Qadgop’s question of of post 80, namely “What did you do in the ER?” I hope it wasn’t triage. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/115 "2010-09-13T12:09:02Z")
Easiest way to make a helmet so cool that every kid begs to wear one? Helmet cam. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/116 "2010-09-13T13:51:33Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Okay. Here you go: > > [http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/victorian-sterling-silver-ladies-pocket-knife](http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/victorian-sterling-silver-ladies-pocket-knife) > > See? Not such a scary thing. Who said they were scary? Well, actually, when they’re being waved in your face by a tiny child who has no idea that she could actually hurt you with it, they are a little scary, but the items themselves aren’t. That one’s quite pretty. ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/117 "2010-09-14T02:53:53Z")
I’m just on the downslope to 40 and my oldest is under 10, but I operate on the “come home when the lights come on” for her. I worked hard to get here overcoming my reticence, then her dad’s, then the neighborhood’s. I spent megabucks to live in a safe neighborhood and want the kids to enjoy it. But for the longest time I lived in fear that someone would call CPS because I let my daughter be a kid like I was permitted to be. Now, if the neighborhood gang is in my yard I’ll look out the window or even poke my head out the door to make sure they’re OK, but try to let them have fun. Minor cuts and bruises don’t get questioned. Both kiddos wear helmets on bikes, rollerblades and maybe someday a skateboard. That’s about the only thing that helps kids today that I didn’t have. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/118 "2010-09-14T03:01:07Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Easiest way to make a helmet so cool that every kid begs to wear one? Helmet cam. I want one! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202/119 "2010-09-14T04:03:20Z")
Hey – what about decorating said helmets, ala [goalie masks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goalie_mask#Mask_decoration)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nothing-safe-for-kids-to-do-these-days/553202.md?page=5)