I saw this article, and I wonder what you guys think.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/should-we-le...=y&mod=e2fb

[EDITED: I think if you find the article on Google News or Facebook, you can read a certain number of articles for free.]

Before we start yelling at "kids these days" for being too soft, let me remind you that exposure to tools depends on your environment. Being a city kid, I didn't grow up sawing wood, hunting squirrels with my .22, or field-dressing deer with a hunting knife. However, thanks to some people I knew, I played with electronics at a young age -- soldering, rewiring, etc. I even got shocked a few times (their idea of teaching me about safety).

Today some kids are getting so much schooling and after school programs that they don't have time to do anything else. Maybe they need to do all that to get a good career later in life. So I wouldn't be too hard on them. After all, I'm sure our ancestors from 5,000 years ago would laugh at our wilderness survival skills.

Still, some balance would be good, so people don't end up seeing knives solely as weapons.

It requires a subscription to read the full article. But, is it something along the lines of this article?
http://grist.org/cities/this-playground-...tions-run-wild/

I was a city kid, and my regular haunts growing up were the school playgrounds after hours. Along with every other RC car/plane/model rocket enthusiast and pickup baseball team in the area. The gates use to be chained shut with enough slack to allow bikes and pedestrian traffic. The tetherballs were even left in place.

I just checked my old haunts with Google earth, and there is no access anymore. The playgrounds are the same packed dirt and cracked asphalt as they were 30+ years ago, but the gates are chained firmly shut. Not even the skinniest 2nd grader could squeeze through.

I'm in agreement that in order to raise kids with IRL skills, IRL experience with IRL tools is necessary. CoD and the internet is weak sauce compared to hand tools and bicycles.

The article talks about how in our "super safe" modern society kids no longer have a chance to play with knives, saws, etc. As a consequence, they may grow up with an unwarranted fear of these tools. By comparison, cultures that are "less modern" aren't afraid to let five-year-olds try their hands at field-dressing an animal with a sharp knife. Are we doing the kids a favor by protecting them from any sort of risk?

My kids all own and use knives, and all of them started target shooting (under appropriate supervision) by the age of 7.

"Always keep an edge on yr knife, son, always keep an edge on yr knife
'cause a good sharp edge is a man's best hedge against the vague uncertainties of life"

Rest of the lyrics

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/corb+lund/always+keep+an+edge+on+your+knife_20715005.html

song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8YyDyap7wI

Know the lyrics well. Local boy makes good, and good on 'im: he's a bright spark in that endless prairie sky.

That, sir, is the quote of the week.

The Grist article linked by Mark_R is a worthy read.

The thing that always bothers me about the modern (read: urban) world is lack of access to all the raw materiel, unprocessed and unmerchandised, that is the foundation of what has been built. Access to this materiel, and the tools to manipulate it, and the freedom to experiment and imagine, is what the next generation needs to remake and rebuild civilization to meet the coming challenges that we can hardly envision.

On the subject of saws: I have found that an excellent introductory tool is a simple hacksaw with a 24 tpi blade. Serious injury is practically impossible, and yet with a bit of encouragement kids discover they can cut literally anything with a bit of patience and perseverance. And when that light comes on, a path of possibilities ...

Hear! Hear!