To let 10 year old DS have a knife ?

[JugglingWithTangentialOranges]

Well it would be a present from his DGPa and a penknife but I'm still not sure ...

DS was given the "Dangerous book for boys" by DGPa for his last birthday. He's really getting into it and has made a bit of a den at the bottom of the garden between some hazelnut trees - which he and DD are always climbing. In the Easter hols he made a great periscope with Grandpa using the plans in the book.

Trouble is on page one it has a list of essential things to own and these include a penknife. Now, I can see the attraction of owning such a clever and nifty little gadget with say 20 different tools and a hundred different uses.

But would it be asking for trouble ? You hear so much about the dangers of knife crime especially amongst teenage boys - and also I'm sure you could easily do yourself some accidental damage even if using it was kept to the den and at home.

DS is very keen to ask for one from DGPa for his next birthday. And DGPa is almost as keen to get him one WWYD ?

But you can't carve a bit of wood without some sort of knife McPhee ?

Sounds fine to me, with some guidance on responsible knife usage etc.

I would have loved it at this age, I did have a catapult (read the Beano) and used it for target practice with stones on the wall (hand eye coordination training don't you know) I never tormented cats etc.

If I had had a penknife I would have whittled sticks and made stuff.

Think the person not the tool makes the trouble.

Depends on the child. DS has always been fascinated by those crafty type things --- whittling etc. He was taught by DH to use a knife responsibly and for the purpose the knife was intended for ... i.e. not stabbing people and also to be careful when using one ... not running etc.

As a reward he was allowed to pick out and was bought a Swiss Army knife last year, so that would make him about 10 years old. He loves it, sits outside whittling bits of wood. He is responsible and understands that by having a penknife we are giving him responsibility.

My DD has had one since she was seven. Initially it was her favourite thing in the whole world, now she is a sophistiacted almost 11 YO she hasn't looked at it for at least a week.
I think you can guess which way I am leaning
McPhee. How do children learn about danger, and become proficient in anything if they don't practice?

I had a penknife when I was 10 and in the Guides.

We did carve sticks to make camp equipment like washstands. Plus trimming string for snake lashing and square lashing the wood together.

My ds had a penknife at 10 too in the scouts

MY dd has a thing for bashing fish over the head with its in the outside cupboard she hasnt used it to bash a Human over the head with ,

DD has had a penknife since she was not quite five - bought in France, they are fairly relaxed about the knives/children combination there. I'm pretty sure I had a penknife by the time I was six or seven - I remember several, particularly a rather sweet little one with a handle in the shape of a fish.

DD is now 9, owns three or four penknives, loves whittling things, and has cut herself once (not very badly). Her current main one is this Wenger junior scout knife but she also has ones with sharp rather than rounded ends.

She once mentioned wanting to take it to school, for Forest School, but I said that the school probably wouldn't allow it, and reminded her that there are a few boys in her class who are rather, shall we say, over excitable, and might not be as responsible with it as she is.

DS has also had a knife since he was 8 or 9, but is much less interested in outdoorsy or crafty things so I think it is lying neglected in a drawer somewhere.

I really can't see why a 10yo shouldn't have a knife, as long as you think he is reasonably responsible and you have rules about not taking it to school, or even not out of the house unless he's going somewhere where it will actually be useful, like camping or into the woods.

McPhee

Why do you consider a penknife, a weapon?

If you hold that view, so is a bowling ball if you use it for the wrong purpose.

What the OP is trying to do here, is teach her child to use it for it's right purpose.

Just like this

guidecamp.bravehost.com/knots.html

Oh maybe it was for guides i had my knife i am old memory is slipping , Im sure it was part of kit annoyingorange

MrsJay, that's called a bobberknocker (or it is by my DD). She had one for coshing fish over the head, once she'd used her penknife to cut the line.

mrsjay

And what is the law on buying a penknife and passing it to a minor?

Just asked DH he calls it a cosh ,

Yeh, DS has already made a great catapault as well as the periscope GinPalace

• this time with DH and using a forked stick and a bit of bicycle inner tube - it works very well and DS loves it. He has already found an old record box in which to keep the book and all his kit He's quite an organised little chap not like the rest of us messy lot

Appreciate your thoughts too pixie that it's important to let them have some responsibility. I try to give them some freedom but know they have less than I did growing up because of changing attitudes and busier roads.

What is more kid like than whittling a stick?

According to CBBC the law is as follows:

"Never carry a knife to defend yourself
And it is also against the law to carry a big knife - where the blade is longer than 7.62cm.
A smaller knife with a small blade, like a pen knife, is not always illegal.

It is if you are carrying it to protect yourself or use as a weapon. BUT, if you're going fishing and have a pen knife in your bag to use while you're fishing, it's not illegal.

Likewise, if you're using a craft knife in a craft lesson that's fine, but if you carry that knife to protect yourself or want to use it as a weapon then it is illegal. "

So it's about context which seems perfectly reasonable.

McPhee I'm pretty sure there isn't one. Don't think parenting has been legislated to that extent.

retailers can't sell to minors but that is a different ball game than when an adult is involved. Obviously there are irresponsible adults who won't care or advise but then the implications are you are getting into illegal knife usage and there are criminal laws for that.

So the area between not letting kids have access to knives carte blanch and kids using knives in a criminal way is for the parents to deal with. And rightly so IMO. :)

And what is the law on buying a penknife and passing it to a minor?

As long as the blade is under a certain length and it's been given to them for a legal purpose, it's absolutely fine.

That's fairly reasonable with regards to the actual carrying/usage, but where does the OP stand on the purchasing and passing it on?

I've always understood it to be a bit of dodgy ground.

Gin I do not think there is one also my boy got one from his Grandad, a retired police officer ?? Mcphee if someone really wanted a weopen then the kitchen knife drawer should do ??

No dodgy ground McPhee as long as it's legal.

I've carried a pen knife since I was 10 and in the guides.

I have a small one on my keyring. It has proved very useful many times over the years

Thanks for that OrmIrian - I did wonder about the legal position as the penknife acquisition sites that DS has shown me with a hopeful look on his wee face have always said at the bottom in large print "Not to be bought by anyone under 18 years of age" (or along those lines)

So wondered is it OK for adult to buy and give to DS for use under supervision ?

And will I be able to ensure that he is always supervised ?

What if he gets very good at whittling and wants to sit whittling away a bit of wood, perhaps in his den, for hours at a time ? Does that count as supervising him (if I know what he's doing and he's been taught and supervised whilst learning the skill ?)