Would you let your 16 year old daughter / son carry a knife around for personal protection? (teenager, parents)

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by no kudzu

I've carried a little swiss army knife on my key chain for years but only for convenience with threads, letter opener, tweezers, etc.. I never once thought of it as protection. I give them out as gifts too but I know airports will confiscate them and kids can't even have them in their cars at school. I think Mace would be better protection along with some training in self defense.

Whenever my 4'10" daughter leaves the house I say:

"have fun and be aware of your surroundings."

Situational awareness is the real key. No texting while walking, no earbuds. Pay attention to who and what is going on around you. Most teens are clueless.

[kygman]

I agree with Dd. There's nothing wrong with a pocket knife as long as you use it as a tool.

[Hopes]

I didn't vote. My answer is no to a knife for personal protection. But I wouldn't take it away like a dictator as the voting option is written.

I would have an intellectual and logical talk with my children, who would to a rational conversation about the personal physical and legal dangers involved in carrying a knife.

I have had no issue with my children carrying and using pocket knives and hunting knifes. My son has used those since he was a young teen for the purposes intended.

[Ceece]

Maybe. But I'd let them know it might be confiscated at many places they want to go (concerts, school, etc) and they would probably not be getting it back.

Can someone get their knife quick enough to do any good? Under what circumstances would that happen?

[txtqueen]

I was an explorer. That's still hard to say. I quit and it was really sad but now to the point.

We ALL carried pocket knives on and off shifts/events/etc.
Just those foldable ones, some of us had manual blades that we have to push out all the way and some of us had the blades that one little push and it popped out for you.

Our explorers as young as 15 carried them around everywhere they went. Except for school.
My brother is 15 and has maybe 3 of them.
Another explorer who is 16, usually has 4 of them on him at all times.
My friend who lives with me is 19 and he carries one at all times.
My brothers friends who are 15 carry them all the time.

I am the only person in the group who doesn't regularly carry one. A) I do not have my own at the moment and B) They are not easy to carry around while wearing skin tight jeans.

However, I do plan on going to buy my own tomorrow.

We use them for various things.
And our knives have various uses.
The knife I am going to get is going to have a window punch and a seat belt cutter.
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Just like those.

And yes, if circumstances arised then yes we would use them for self defense BUT we are trained to not go for our weapons immediately. We use our skills to try to deescalate the situation and if that doesn't work and they come at us then we are to use our fighting techniques. Never are we to go after someone or pull a knife to try to solve the situation.

So yes, I would allow a 16 year old to carry a pocket knife like in the link above for various reasons, given they were responsible enough.

[corcorangirl]

A friend of mine is a police officer and she once told me that knives are rather useless for self defense. If you aren't criminal and don't have any experience in fighting with knives you usually hurt yourself and many people just have a certain inner inhibition to really stab someone with a knife, even if it is for self defense.

Apart from that I would never let my child carry a weapon. Usually having a weapon gets you in more trouble than it saves you from.

[KylieEve]

No that is just insane. I'll stick with giving her a cell phone or a can of mace.

[phonelady61]

Originally Posted by NoExcuses

Mine carries a pocket knife all the time in her pocket. She uses it for a lot of things.

You do know that in some state she could get arrested for having this right ?

[NoExcuses]

Originally Posted by phonelady61

You do know that in some state she could get arrested for having this right ?

Not in this one.

[NoExcuses]

Originally Posted by okpondlady

My child don't go places where they need a knife for protection. Sorry. Besides that she is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and studies Kickboxing. The knife would be a distraction for her and the least of her attackers worries.

Sorry, but for the most part, it's unlikely that a 13 year old girl will use any kind of training to protect herself. Simply training in the martial arts does not automatically make a person a trained fighter.

I would NEVER rely on that to protect her.