The people in this forum might be more observant of their kids than the norm. But from what I've seen, most parents seem to be WAAAAY behind their kids, if they pay any attention to them at all. They don't see what they don't want to see. And what they don't want to see is their kids' interest in items that can be dangerous. There are lots of parents who haven't even noticed that their kids can't READ by the time they're 12 -- how observant is THAT? <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

The majority of parents just say "Don't", and blithely go on their way, assuming that the kid is actually going to obey. These are the same kids who stick beans up their nose after being told not to do it, get steak knives out of the drawer after being told not to do it, and investigate their friends' parents' guns because they're not locked up after being told not to do it.

I really do believe that most parents' common sense (if they ever had any) goes right down the toilet at conception.

The guy who took his son shooting (son was about 8) did so because he himself was interested in shooting, he had multiple guns in the house, and if his son got his hands on a gun ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, he wanted him to know how to handle it.

It's the "anywhere, anytime" part that tends to be the (literal) killer. Dumb parents think 1) their kids will do as they're told (yeah, sure!), and 2) they will always be around when the kid puts himself into danger. Both are incredible arrogant, unrealistic and stupid thinking. Come on! These are the same kids who slam the door all summer, leave the door open all winter, play with the hose beside the open window of the new car, and remember parental commands for as much as one-fifth of a second.

A hundred years ago, kids grew up with knives, guns, shearing and crushing equipment and livestock, and knew how to handle all of them. Now, people want to protect their kids from everything, as if they ignore the dangers, they will go away. Instead of preparing them to deal with problems in the future, they restrain them from as much as they can, and when the kid breaks loose or turns 18, they have no conception of how to deal with anything. All their learning has been from what they've seen on TV and in movies, and we all know how realistic THAT is. (Everyone knows that a movie bullet that misses its target downtown evaporates, right?)

These are the kids who don't even know how to tell if a gun is loaded! They will pull a trigger just to pull a trigger, and it doesn't even pass through their mind that their friend is standing in front of them. They don't know that a clip can be removed from an automatic and still have a bullet ready to go. They don't know that many people who own revolvers leave the hammer resting on an empty cylinder. If the gun doesn't fire, they look down the barrel and pull the trigger again to see what's wrong.

I live in the stupid capital of America, and I see it all the time.

Sue