Mine too. People's reaction to risk is so strange. If the father were floating with his kid in a swimming pool, I doubt anyone would think anything of it.
There were many conversations about when it is appropriate to teach children about guns when I lived in Colorado. I know that every child is different, but most conversations concluded that it was good to have a firm grasp of what death is before learning how to shoot a gun.
Hmm...do we wait until a child has a firm grasp on what death is before teaching them to swim? Ride a bike?
Personally, I think you should start teaching them young, supervising closely, and gradually letting them have increased responsibility as they mature.
(And who really has a firm grasp on death? An alarming number of people think that death is the gateway to a magical fantasy land called Heaven.)
Ok, I mean a basic grasp on death as in things do not come back when they die. This is different from bicycling and swimming because there is potential to kill others.
I think by six, most kids understand the "You shoot it, you eat it" rule. (I grew up in the Deep South.)
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Date: 2007-03-30 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-30 07:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-30 11:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-30 06:51 pm (UTC)Personally, I think you should start teaching them young, supervising closely, and gradually letting them have increased responsibility as they mature.
(And who really has a firm grasp on death? An alarming number of people think that death is the gateway to a magical fantasy land called Heaven.)
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Date: 2007-03-30 11:07 pm (UTC)I think by six, most kids understand the "You shoot it, you eat it" rule. (I grew up in the Deep South.)
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Date: 2007-03-30 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-30 11:58 pm (UTC)