Knife Safe

[colobbfan]

Hi,
I mentioned when I introduced myself on the Spyderco forum last week that I have a two year old son. I went out and bought a fire proof safe big enough to hold my current knife collection and also accomodate future purchases.
I need some input from others on the boards. Do any other readers have young children? How do you handle the subject of the safe use of not only knives, but other tools that might cause serious injury to a little guy?
Both my wife & I try to include our son in our interests & hobbies, explaining and showing things to him, etc. We feel this will instill respect for other people's interests and property but will also teach him to both locate & appreciate HIS own interests as he gets older.
Any input would be appreciated!!
Thanks
John row
colobbfan

 

[Flinx]

Hi Colobbfan! Welcome to the forum! In regards to your post, I do not have children myself, but I do have a niece and nephew (6 and 8 respectively) who stay with my quite a bit. The best thing I can say is to include him as much as possible, just like you mentioned. Nothing seems to make a child want to play with something than you telling the child "No, don't touch that!" My brother-in-law bought my nephew a Ladybug that he is allowed to carry in his pocket on weekends. He absolutely loves that knife! I carry a Delica and since the Ladybug and Delica look so much alike, my nephew allways delights in showing me that he is carrying his Spyderco any time he sees mine clipped to the top of my pocket. My brother-in-law bought him the knife because he knew of my love of Spydercos and thought that it would make a good first knife for him. But since my brother-in-law hasn't ever messed with Spydercos before it fell to me to teach my nephew safe handling procedures. As I'm sure you will see shortly with your son, most young boys want to imitate/emulate their fathers, uncles, etc. I can't tell you how proud I was of my nephew, the way he paid attention to every thing I showed him! I'm am also proud to say that he can safely open AND close that little knife one-handed! (The ladybug really IS the perfect size for him) From what I have observed from his friends, (and from what I read in the newspaper and see on tv) it seems to me, that those parents who either don't care to teach knife-safety to their kids, or just don't want their kids around knives at all are the ones whose children get into trouble around knives. They either take one to school and get expelled or they play with a friend's and end up getting cut badly,(which of course just feeds the parents fear of knives). My nephew knows that his knife is a tool and one that is not to be played with. And, yes, he has cut himself with it, just as I have cut myself on occasion with mine. But instead of fearing the knife, or not wanting to have anything to do with it (like some kids do when something goes wrong), he just gains new respect for it. Sorry about rambling so long, but this is something I feel very strongly about. I guess I could have summed this up by saying, "If you tell your kids 'Knives bad-don't touch' they will just get into them when you are not looking. But if you include your child in the learning process, he will not only come to love and respect knives as you do, but this will be something for the two of you to bond over.

Hope this helped some

Flinx

 

[colobbfan]

Thanks Flinx!
I appreciate the response.
I agree that respect and knowledge of any tool always serve better than fear and ignorance. I still have a nagging fear that my little guy will learn about knives, etc from other children, or worse yet, from tv!
John Row
colobbfan

 

[fourcycle]

I would like to agree with what has been said and add one thing. In raising my son in a home where guns and knives were always present. I made it a point to never allow him to have toy guns or toy knives.

I didn't ever want him to have to decide if a gun or knife was "OK" to play with. Am I being to idealistic when I look at the toy weapons we give our children to play with?

Guns have bullets, knives have blades and toys should have wheels. K.I.S.S.

Terry Prichard

 

[red mag]

Hi!
I found it out the hard way. One day my daughter (then a year and a half) came with a hunting-knife bleeding from her finger.
I stored my knives in my bedroom in a lower drawer. As she inspected the drawers she found it and... Well it was a little cut and I think it din't hurt to much as she was not crying or anything.(it was in fact a verrry sharp knife) But I was frighened to death when the little lady walked along with the knife unsheated.
Now I store all my knives in boxes where my children have no access.
Since I carry a clipit every day my childred are used to the use of a good knife.
My wife has a pink delica and this causes some headache too. My daughter thinks this is a children's knife.
I'm not quite sure when the right time for the first knife will come, but I think I'll find the right moment.
Greetings
red

 

[MNH]

I never thought about knives when my daughter was little but our rule on guns was the same as Terry's.

Absolutely no toy guns of any sort. Not even a squirt gun.

(Actually she did have one squirt gun that looked like a elephant with all it's feet together to made the handle and the trunk out straight for a barrel. She played with it in the bath, and I didn't have the heart to take it away from her.)

She was told that gun handling skills are learned with real guns, not toys. Any time she expressed an interest in any gun I would take the time to show it to her, tell her how it worked, and show her how to handle it safely. When she was big enough she was allowed to shoot anything she wanted under close supervision. This was real easy as we live in the country and my shooting range was about 15 feet outside the kitchen door.

Guns were never locked up or hidden away where she could find one by "accident".

She is 15 now, and has no particular interest in guns, but she knows where they are, how they work, and how to handle them safely.

You will never convince me that she would have been safer if I had hidden the guns away and told her "No don't touch."


Mike

[This message has been edited by MNH (edited 06-13-2000).]