What happened??

First of all, buyin a kid, a knife without fathers/mothers permission, may not of been the best idea. :thumbdn:

But really you are right, today people over react about knives. (but guns are still a totally different thing) I still carry knives in school, because really, if I intended on hurting someone, which is the LAST thing I intend on doing, it would of already happened.

I really worry for that kids life. I see that kid living a very unfufilled life. If a father can't trust his TWELVE YEAR OLD! with a knife, I cant see their relationship going anyfuther than a handshake... :(

just my .02...
 
I don't know I would have been pissed if it was my kid. The grandparent ain't the parent. The parent says no that's the way it is like it or not. Socio economic what have you not with standing. I think 12 is a bit young to own a knife, or a gun or bow. That's just me. Now when they are supervised learning the skills to handle a weapon or cutting tool of any sort and have demonstrated to that end that they can indeed use the tool wisely and safely that may be different especially if I did the training and I was the parent. keepem sharp

PS BG are you in high school or something? You really carry a knife to school? No way would you get away with that here in Rochester at any school.
 
And plus, sooner or later that kid is going to get a knife on his own (which isn't very hard to do) and not know how to safely handle it, and probably injure himself.

Its just better to teach him now, than later.
 
dee bee said:
More often then not i find myself surrounded by people i rather have nothing to do with after about 5 min. of getting to know them. I hate to say it, wonder if theres something wrong with me, but i dont think so.
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Sounds like you need to move. I can sympathize though, I do too. The tech industry which seems filled with people afraid of anything that doesn't go in or out of a computer...maybe I need a new career too...

I'm rather surprised the boy didn't have a knife (or four) by the time he was 12. In the cub scouts they get a knife when they're 8 or 9. Clearly that family doesn't participate in scouting or do much, or any, camping.
 
I was corrected on a couple of points here by 68caharlie & Para-Frame: I corrected myself (I think ;) ) in post's #45 & 46.

Parental permission is certainly important. :thumbup:

Things have certainly changed from our grandparent's, and even our parent's generations. Back in fifth grade, the principal of our school gave me permission to have my dad bring a Japanese Arisaka 99, and the bayonet, to school, to show it to the class. We were studying WWII at the time. My grandfather got it in the pacific at the end of the war.**

fast forward thirty years:
Then, I become a Cubmaster for a Scout Pack here locally, and I find out almost none of the boys have pocket knives. Young Scouts I can understand, but we have Cubs bridging to Boy Scouts (6th graders), without a knife, compass, nothing. So this summer, I decided to have a knife use & safety course during our summer campout. I collected a bunch of regular sized pocket knives, including several sent by members on the forums here, and I thought the dads would be okay with their boys having knives since they (the dads) would be part of the training, but I've hit a lot of resistance to it. I've given several away to dads who give them to their boys, but there are only a few who want to. Some of the boys would certainly be excited to have even a small pocket knife (SAK Classic type), but in a lot of cases the dads say no & won't budge.

Makes me sad, because I think it - the parent's attitudes toward knives - is more about the media sensationalism of violent crime than anything else.

thx - cpr

** today, I can't live within 300 yards of a school here in most areas of CA because I own that rifle now. :mad:
 
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Haakon said:
In the cub scouts they get a knife when they're 8 or 9.
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In times past, Scouts got their knives as awards for earning certain badges. Now, IIRC, I don't think BSA can give a knife to kid. It has to be the parents. I can't even give the kids a bladeless Leatherman, like the UK models. (We thought of doing a fundraiser for that, but we'd still have to give it to the parents to give to the boys, and most of them would sit in a drawer for years.)

thx - cpr
 
orca8589 said:
I don't think BSA can give a knife to kid.
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My sons cub scout pack gives the new boys a folder every year at one of the pack meetings. They have the Boy Scouts come in and teach them knife safety and Whittling. Its a awesome night.

They offer the parents that aren't comfortable with sharp things a Popsicle stick and a bar of soap to use. No parent has ever accepted since I've been there. So that's a plus.
 
Bob W said:
Buying a knife for a kid without the parents' permission? That's not cool...

Sounds like an OK compromise in the end. The boy gets to keep the knife, at least.
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I bought my nephew a rifle without my brothers permission. Of course I kept it in my safe and he only got to shoot it when he went to the range with me. it was almost 4 years before my brother found out...he was mad. :D
 
orca8589 said:
Parental permission is certainly important. :thumbup:

Things have certainly changed from our grandparent's, and even our parent's generations. Back in fifth grade, the principal of our school gave me permission to have my dad bring a Japanese Arisaka 99, and the bayonet, to school, to show it to the class. We were studying WWII at the time. My grandfather got it in the pacific at the end of the war.**

fast forward thirty years:
Then, I become a Cubmaster for a Scout Pack here locally, and I find out almost none of the boys have pocket knives. Young Scouts I can understand, but we have Cubs bridging to Boy Scouts (6th graders), without a knife, compass, nothing. So this summer, I decided to have a knife use & safety course during our summer campout. I collected a bunch of regular sized pocket knives, including several sent by members on the forums here, and I thought the dads would be okay with their boys having knives since they (the dads) would be part of the training, but I've hit a lot of resistance to it. I've given several away to dads who give them to their boys, but there are only a few who want to. Some of the boys would certainly be excited to have even a small pocket knife (SAK Classic type), but in a lot of cases the dads say no & won't budge.

Makes me sad, because I think it - the parent's attitudes toward knives - is more about the media sensationalism of violent crime than anything else.

thx - cpr

** today, I can't live within 300 yards of a school here in most areas of CA because I own that rifle now. :mad:
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the only law on the books about weapons by school grounds only covers carrying a hand gun improperly, and there is an exemption to the law if you live within the 1000 feet 'school zone" rifles are not mentioned and you could drive right next to a school on your way to or from with properly stored handguns and long guns.
 
I think there are quite a few major trends that lead to the problem with knives.

1) Many people see pocket knives as weapons--and this is totally understandable. Watch some tv and most times you see a pocket knife it is used for a weapon/intimidating people. People see them on tv used as a weapon more than in the real world used as a tool. Not many people use a pocket knife in the office except for a few of us knife knuts.

2) Fear mongering. Its on the news all the time. Stab and shooting all the time. Terroist this and that. Whatever. Its on the news in Canada its 20x worse in the US. This definaty doesn't help with knives being seen as tools.

3) Ipods. By this I mean new technology. People just don't need tools these days. We have our cell phones and computers and most people hire out for work that require these tools such as knives. Self reliance is a thing of the past for most people. Ive seen kids that didnt even know how to light a match--pathetic. Most people don't even own basic wrenches or screwdrivers these days.

Just a couple thoughts...
 
I guess i am one of the lucky ones. As a grandpa and knife maker...I not only can give my grandkids knives but teach them how to make one....There are 7 of them and the oldest is 11............Crazy world we have created..............carl
 
What happened? I think a few things, but most importantly, the media. What stories sell the most? Violent crimes, doom and gloom, and tragic accidents. Those stories sway the will and popular opinion of the general society because of the lack of need for that item. To prove my point, car accidents kill more people each year in America than knives and guns combined, yet no one demonizes cars or the car industry because the average person needs them. Nor should they. The old saying goes "Guns dont kill people. People kill people" holds true imo.
I agree with others on this forum, teaching your kids to use tools should be required. The added by product is you will have something else in common and build father/son/daughter relationship!
 
Back in the day my 3rd grade, field trip to a place with a gift shop, they sold $3, 2 blade pocket knives that day back in 75 or so, the little gift shop probally sold 40, around half the boys bought one. the teacher kept them till the end of school and we were told to keep them in our pocket on the bus ride home. wouldn't that splatter off of the fan today. back then alot of kids had pocket knives and up into high school kids wore lock backs on their belts. And I can say we never had a knife fight or incident in my school, now there were some good old butt kickings butt no weapons, today you / kids have to be more careful Moose can whip the shrimp, but he is packing and Moose is gonna be hurting. sometimes is it possible we are to passive, getting shoved down the chute to slaughter towards the guy with the stunner.
 
I dig it when gramps gives my nine year old daughter one of his old knives from time to time, but I'm cool with knives.And have instilled knife safety with her.Started when she was five just like my dad did for me.But after that post I will never gift a knife to a miner with out permission.SAD!
 
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I'm glad LONGBOW wasn't my Dad, man ya'll need to all move down south. I started hunting when I was about 5, had my first shotgun when I was eight or nine, .410 crackbarrel. Would walk through the woods at my Aunt's house with my Dad and when we would see a squirrel he would give me a shell. When I got home I cleaned the shotgun with Dad and the gun went into my room on my gun rack. Now the shells went with Dad but that soon stopped by about age 12, by the time I was 15 I was hunting on my own because I was then a licensed driver. Don't even talk about Bows and Knives, probably had over 10 knives by the time I was 12.

Now the circle has already started again, my son is 5 just turned 5 this month is already shooting HIS BB gun, shot some yesterday at MawMaw and PawPaw's house with PawPaw while I cleaned up the trailer and 4 wheelers after a long muddy hunting season. The attitudes ya'll talk about on here are just not that prevalent down here and thank goodness.

Guns and knives are not taboo in my house never will be, because if they are then he is sure to seek them out on his own when I am not around to teach him. I think most of this mess can be blamed on technology most people don't hunt or fish anymore because they think they don't need to, and most feel they no longer need a pocket knife. All complete falicies, but that is another post. Second, the whole lack of personal accountability and personal responsibility things which is theme for one of the two major political parties in this country whereby everyone is a victem, has left the masses weak and vunlerable. Which I have sneaking suspcion is going to come back and bite them, they fail to learn from Katrina when the Govt said hey you need to able to take care of yourself for at least 4 to 7 days, and I saw first hand just how many people could not do that. What is funny the vast majority of them were people who had relied upon the government to provide for them in one way or another for most their life and look at where it got them. Go ahead a bash me if you want, but I'm down here and was down there with one of my buddies in his bass boat picking people up out of the water, so I know who it was. I wonder how many people died because they when they went into their attic to flee the rising water either forgot to bring an ax or hatchet with them to bust out onto the roof or how many didn't have an ax or hatchet because they mistankely thought in our modern society that those tools were no longer needed by individuals?

One other thing, and maybe this is just a southern thing as well, but Grand Parents or the secondary parents down here at least in the circles we run, on more than one occasion I have seen a grandpa spank one our friends children in the prescence of the parents and it has happend to my son as well, my father in law has swatted my son's backside several times in my prescence and rightfuly so, the boy needed it and PawPaw was closer than I was.
 
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My fiance and I just bought my future nephew a rifle for his 5th birthday. We cleared it with his folks first, not about whether or not to get it for him, just whether or not his older brother would be too jealous.

We are the coolest aunt and uncle ever.






But, about the OP...the Grandpa seems like a good guy. The Dad sounds like a rollerblader. :D

Thats all a person can say about it in the general forum.
 
milani74 said:
What happened? I think a few things, but most importantly, the media. What stories sell the most? Violent crimes, doom and gloom, and tragic accidents. Those stories sway the will and popular opinion of the general society because of the lack of need for that item. To prove my point, car accidents kill more people each year in America than knives and guns combined, yet no one demonizes cars or the car industry because the average person needs them. Nor should they. The old saying goes "Guns dont kill people. People kill people" holds true imo.
I agree with others on this forum, teaching your kids to use tools should be required. The added by product is you will have something else in common and build father/son/daughter relationship!
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:thumbup: I agree. Media is what creates a certain mindset.

I stay in cape town now. Coming from a farming background and the knowing that you will always need a knife as a tool. I was amased how (forgive me but there is no other word) ignorant people are here about pocket knives. It took me two weeks to explain myself about why I carry a pocket knife, and explaining that most knife attacks happen with kitchen knives.
 
My 2 year old knows more about knives and knife safety than most teenagers (plus she knows what pronate and suppinate and patella's are as well). I was having dinner with some classmates on Friday and they were amazed that she knew "hold the handle, that part is sharp and can cut you", and that she cut her omlette by herself. I'll be damned if my kids can't enjoy the things I did (ok- maybe not having 30 guns unlocked in her bedroom by now) and if they won't be the kind to be able to use their hands. Looking at my class of 18 year olds to 35 year olds it is clear that most have never used their hands before. While I was still crutch bound from my latest surgery- plate replacement and bone graft in my leg- I was still able to give a 1 hour massage easier than 18 year old healthy people. When I was in University in 1998-99 our pledge class for the frat I dropped out of was tasked with building a bench downstairs in the dance area. My 12 year old brother took charge and helped out way more than the city "men" did. In fact one of them told us as we were working "this is what I pay people to do!!!" to which I replied "that is why you aren't a man yet!". Pissed him off but I think it drove my point home.

Found out today that I am going to be an uncle come Christmas time- so I gave my brother a Rajah II. He has loved Kukries since he was 6-7 and I started taking him to gun shows to look at knives. The real world knife users aren't going to go down easily. Our illustrious Mayor has said that it is his goal to get knives out of every bodies pockets- it is my goal to get one in everybodies pockets!
 
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