Bear Grylls: Let Kids Use Knives

Trying to roll back the nanny state that is UK.

Children should be allowed to play with knives because it can “empower" them by teaching them how to do something dangerous but safely, Bear Grylls has said.

The adventurer said a “mega-sharp penknife” is a great tool for the young, even though his six-year-old son, Huckleberry, recently had an accident that would have led many other parents to take the opposite view.

“Sometimes in life we get cut. My six-year-old recently cut himself on a knife, and came in with blood pouring everywhere, but, you know what? He’s not cut himself again.

“He learned how to handle a knife,” said Grylls, who is also father to Marmaduke, eight, and Jesse, 10.

“When I say to budding adventurers, ‘Listen – a blunt penknife is a dangerous knife. Make sure it’s really sharp’ – the kids’ faces light up. Like all kids, they want a mega-sharp penknife – great, but teach them to respect it and use it properly.

“Two hundred years ago, I doubt there was a six-year-old in Britain who couldn’t start a fire with a knife and a flint. It would be like a six-year-old today using a fork to pick up a fishfinger. Kids were taught to be resourceful and practical.”

I can't but agree. If you go out of your way to infantilize your children, then don't be surprised if they turn out to be infants when they should be adults.