Six year old and a pocket knife

[AnxiousPixie]

DH thinks it's ok for him to have one at six, I don't and have said no. DH had one at about the same age and doesn't see the problem. I think times have changed and knives just aren't an acceptable thing to 'play' with. I'm the bad guy.

Am I being unreasonable to say he is too young??

Is it related to a hobby? DS8 has just received something similar as a birthday gift but it’s linked to a hobby and will be put out of his reach when not being used for said hobby.

If it’s just to have then YANBU

babynameneeded @Lilypansy. At what age do you think they should learn then? Is there a special certificate they get on their birthday where a knife is suddenly safe

Of course not. What a ridiculous comment. As with all developmental milestones, it depends on the personality of the child. Use of knives to cut fruit etc can be introduced when a parent feels that a child is ready and sensible enough, but I think six is too young to have acquired the necessary manual dexterity. My seven year old granddaughter certainly isn't ready to handle sharp knives. At least, not in my home.

Have had a 3 inch Opinel locking blade penknife since I was 8 or 9. Still have it now (40 or so years later). 6 might be a bit young - but i think it's good to learn about tools, how to use them properly, and to respect them.

In that sense, I think closely supervised use of a properly sharp blade is better than learning bad habits at younger age with something blunt.

@CatsArePeople

My grandma used to have a little penknife

My mum has a pocket knife in her handbag at all times. Once she remembered she had it at an airport. She then went outside and burried it in a flower bed so the security didn't confiscate it. Then she retrieved it upon return a week later

A while ago I was invited to the House of Parliament and managed to get in with a (small 6cm) Swiss Army knife in my handbag (I find them useful at events if I am managing them). I didn’t realise until I was raking for a business card. And it went through a metal detector too.

Well this has tickled me as I’ve just read another thread about how dangerous unwashed strawberries are and yet here I am reading about giving a 6 year old a knife…… anyhoo, it’s a no from me. I see no reason for a child to own a knife

any kind of knife can be used as a weapon. Six year olds should not be allowed to handle them. Not ever.

This comment explains the fucking appalling table manners some children have, if they aren't given a knife to cut their food at home.

Children need to be taught, supervised, to use knives safely as a tool not a weapon. You can buy kuhn rikon children's knives for kitchen prep for this reason.

DS almost had his eye poked out by a rather aggressive child in reception who through that a large stick would make a super weapon.

@Lilypansy

babynameneeded @Lilypansy. At what age do you think they should learn then? Is there a special certificate they get on their birthday where a knife is suddenly safe

Of course not. What a ridiculous comment. As with all developmental milestones, it depends on the personality of the child. Use of knives to cut fruit etc can be introduced when a parent feels that a child is ready and sensible enough, but I think six is too young to have acquired the necessary manual dexterity. My seven year old granddaughter certainly isn't ready to handle sharp knives. At least, not in my home.

Glad I'm not in your home then! My children were chopping veg such as mushroom, courgettes etc, cheese etc by the time they were 3.

Just to pint out my Ds went to an exceptional nursery school an 3+ they did woodwork with actual saw and drank out of glass tumblers, the also used metal cutlery. (Nobody was stabbed, or injured)

Those saying shouldn’t handle a knife ever are as bit extreme

I’ve said YABU because owning one is not the same as carrying one.

My 5 yo has a full set of (child size but functional) tools and craft knives, etc that he is allowed to use under close adult supervision i.e with me or his dad, and they’re safely away when not actively in use. Similarly he has supervised access to and uses knives, whittling tools etc at forest school under close supervision.

I wouldn’t want ANY child, 6 or 16 carrying a knife around outside of a camping/wilderness situation - but having them and learning to use them properly is a valuable life skill IMO.

We also just bought a flint and steel kit that we taught DS how to use this weekend and was a great success and really good for him- good opportunity to instill fire safety etc.

I don’t let him have toy guns, knives or other toy weaponry though- so he sees these things very much as “tools” rather than “toys”, and there’s no confusion.

I presume he means in the context of going camping or fishing.

In many countries getting a pocket knife and knowing how to use it is a right of passage for preteens. I would be happy for my dd to have one and use it with adequate supervision. Hell, Dd7 often helps me chop up kindling with an axe in the winter!

@Lilypansy

Fuck me. Better stop teaching my child skills such as cutting his fruit, making a sandwich. You might think that's ok, but I wouldn't be giving a six year old a knife sharp enough to cut fruit with. Buttering bread with a cutlery knife, perhaps, when supervised.

My 7 year old cuts his own fruit and veg for snacks? What age do you think is ok?

My children were chopping veg such as mushroom, courgettes etc, cheese etc by the time they were 3
A three year old using a knife? That sounds reckless to me.

@SpaceRaiders I think context is everything here like you say.

For example, we are rural farmers. It wouldn't enter my mind for a child NOT to safely be taught how to use a multi tool, a knife and many other tools. From cutting baler twine to cleaning a stone out a horses shoe, to freeing a sheep from a fence. However, it would never leave the farm setting.

@Lilypansy

My 3yo was too... and I’m not really the “reckless” type, what with my crippling “pure O” OCD which centres around fears of my child coming to harm

Pipe down.

@Lilypansy

My children were chopping veg such as mushroom, courgettes etc, cheese etc by the time they were 3 A three year old using a knife? That sounds reckless to me.

With adult supervision? Really?

For the academically inclined, this is a really interesting article about knowledge acquisition in indigenous societies. Some of the pictures (of tiny toddlers with huge knives) will give people on this thread conniptions - but should also give you pause re the extent to which western societies have come to infantilise kids. A six year old not being allowed to cut up fruit is ridiculous imo. www.cambridgeblog.org/2015/06/playing-with-knives/

[quote Porcupineintherough]@EleanorOlephantisjustfine I guess you've led a particularly sheltered life then.[/quote]
Nothing sheltered about 30 years in the Police.

My boys have been involved in Scouting since forever, so Swiss Army knives have been a thing here, but only hir camps and activities. DS2 has a fantastic wee side hustle going in whittling and wood carving now, as well...

Children can learn all sorts of things if given the opportunity and the right tools.

@Lilypansy

My children were chopping veg such as mushroom, courgettes etc, cheese etc by the time they were 3 A three year old using a knife? That sounds reckless to me.

You're joking? I'm incredibly risk averse but my ds has been chopping and cutting fruit and veg (supervised) since he was 2ish (He's 4. 5 now) His favourite thing was peeling and grating carrots.

Knives when used appropriately and with supervision are fine. Free range? Definitely not.

Is this a joke?? Of course he shouldn't have one!! It's ok to use a child's knife, SUPERVISED, at something like Cubs or Forest School etc but other than that....just NO!!

My kids were taught how to use knives at their school nursery in England. Not reckless

Just to clarify - use knives for chopping veg. The teachers used all the chopped veg to make soup for everyone to have outside.

Yes, I think it’s fine to be used with supervision - for things like cooking, camping, wood carving, bushcraft type things. My eldest is 8 and she got one a few years ago. Dh works in an industry related to camping and bushcraft so has taught her how to properly and safely use it. We wouldn’t just send her off to school with a knife to play with! It’s about learning to handle risk and make sensible decisions.