Monday, January 07, 2008

5 dangerous things you should let your kids do

5 (or 6) dangerous things you should let your kids do:
  1. Play with fire
  2. Own a pocket knife
  3. Throw a spear
  4. Deconstruct appliances
  5. Break the DMCA
  6. Drive a car

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

-Have sex

Gnuosphere said...

1. Play with fire.

When I was elementary school-aged, a friend and I burnt down my neighbor's fence. Not on purpose of course - we were just playing with matches and a dried-up garbage pile. However, it was fortunate the neighbor was home and had access to a strong water hose. Otherwise, that could have been a disaster.

4. Deconstruct appliances.

Not sure why this is dangerous. Or should they do it while those appliances are still plugged in? :)

5. Break the DMCA.

If my son ever reverse engineers a digital lock used to implement DRM I'll be the proudest Dad on the planet.

The sex suggestion is bang on too. What about drugs? Cigarettes? Though generally, by the time a child is interested in such things, I think the idea that a parent has the choice to allow or disallow is mostly illusory.