"Look out! He's got a knife!"
Two treasured possessions, in fact:

1. The Gurkha Kukhri given to me by a family friend as a christening present. I was three years old at the trime, and not allowed to play with it. I can see their point, it's as sharp as hell.

2. My grandad's Boy Scout knife, given to him by his dad, and passed down to me, and obsessively sharpened and cleaned. And here lies the quandry: Britain is completely pussified and even getting the thing out in public would have me slapped with an ASBO post-haste. Do I give it to the boy Scaryduck Junior, or not?

Or, should I just use it to stab social workers?
( Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Thu 8 May 2008, 13:23, 7 replies)

give it to scaryduck junior....
and get him to stab the social workers :)
( MrSanity has maybe kicked the WoW habit forever, Thu 8 May 2008, 13:30, closed)

Give 'em to the boy.
When I was about 5 or 6, my parents bought me a Swiss Army Knife. Every time i opened it, (supervised), I still managed to cut myself; not badly, but mum always had the plasters out. She was a believer in spare dry socks, plasters and TCP, but I digress.

Kids should be encouraged to be reasonably independent; I have respect for the sharp things now. Although I'm still a clumsy git.

As to the subject of social workers, grrrrr. And "counsellors" too.

Whoops, getting onto pet peeves!
(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Thu 8 May 2008, 13:32, closed)

Give it to the boy :)
Boys should have knives - my partner is always messing around with his - cutting his toe-nails, poking himself and others with it and doing all sorts of useful-man things
( its_hatorah_bitch is b3ta the devil you know on, Thu 8 May 2008, 13:38, closed)

absoloutly.
A kid should have a knife.

Learning to handle, care for and responsibly use a knife is a really good step towards adulthood.

I was given my first penknife at 5 years old, and cherished it.

Pass it on, and make sure he understands the importance. Teach him how to whittle wooden spikes and sharpen pencils... :0)

I rekon all parents should see this.. www.divinecaroline.com/article/22111/41772--video--five-dangerous-things-let
( Humpty Dumpty was Pushed Is unaware of having any limits., Thu 8 May 2008, 13:39, closed)

Boy Scout Knife?
The clue is in the name. The lad needs to learn how to responsibly use knives as a tool (for stabbing social workers).

I've been carrying some form of pointy thing pretty much since I was knee high to a dachshund and I've never been tempted to repeatedly stab someone while screaming "You Kahnt!" at the top of my lungs.
(osok Rebel without a clue, Thu 8 May 2008, 14:14, closed)

Yup, the lad should have it
My uncle brought me my first Swiss Army knife from Canada (!) when I was 11. 28 years and 2 replacements later, I still carry a very similar one today. Every day. I've never killed or maimed anyone with it (although I frequently inflict minor accidental injuries on myself!) and nobody's ever had a problem with my having it.

The exception is when flying, obviously, because they're funny like that. But I have it packed away in my suitcase for the weekend!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 8 May 2008, 14:28, closed)

The only trouble I've ever had with my knife...
...was when I forgot I had it in my bag and took it to the Scottish Parliament.

Whoops
( Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Thu 8 May 2008, 14:43, closed)