My only concern is the unlocking mechanism. It's a little awkward in that he'd have to hold the knife wrong to close it.
I've had some
bad experience with that style of lock being too stiff for my son to close safely, but I may have just had a bad knife or model since I don't have any other experience with that type of knife.
The only locking blade knife I've used which allows you to close the blade naturally, with no fingers in the blade's path, is my old Wenger Ranger. It has a little slide on the side that is used to disengage the liner lock which can be operated by your index finger in its natural position (or your thumb if you're left handed). That said, I think the Rangers are a bit big for younger kids.
As an adult, I could operate my daughter's knife that way too (fingers clear of the blade), but she didn't seem to have the finger strength to do so.