eric rochow : social media handyman

Full disclosure: I don’t have any children ( though who knows what the future brings ). But many of my friends do, and I spend time with them. I think, for the most part, that kids don’t do the things I did growing up. Kids are overbooked and micromanaged and not allowed to do anything that has the slightest possibility of danger or failure.

Failure is good. You learn from it. I’ve failed many times. You think I’d be quite smart by now, but no.

I have been reading The Dangerous Book for Boys, and the book reminds me of a lot of the things I did as a kid, and I did not belong to the Boy Scouts or the 4-H club. And it had me thinking how odd that one has to write a book like this. I’m happy the authors did, maybe we can tear off some of that bubble wrap kids are encased in.

Today I ran across this TED conference talk by Gever Tulley of the Tinkering School, 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do, and the lightbulb went off in my head. I just kept on nodding my head yes during the video.

Watch the video here

Here’s my thoughts about these 5 dangerous things:

“Learning to control [fire] is a pivotal moment in a child’s history ” yeah. we played with fire in the backyard, we would make a firepit out of rocks and cook hot dogs, and my dad would not be hovering nearby. We thought it was great, and we didn’t burn ourselves nor any structures. Me, being the safety nut even back then, had a bucket of water at the ready. Gever talks about how fire is elemental and mysterious and “these mysteries are only revealed to those that get to play with it”.

video still from presentation

Own a Pocket Knife “Its a powerful and empowering tool” I had several of the Swiss style and wanted to use if for everything. I would cut my food at the dinner table with it. Yes, I cut myself a few times, but from that I learned not to. I carry one almost all the time.

Along a similar line, my brother and I both had guns when we were young. My gun rack was over my bed. Gun safety was drilled into our heads, and we knew if we didn’t follow the rules, the guns would be taken away. It taught us a healthy respect for a useful yet dangerous tool. Knives can do the same thing.

Throw a Spear . We are wired to throw things. Throwing uses and develops several skill sets, you have to visualize, think in 3D, control muscles, and focus your mind. An extension to this, and perhaps a more suburban friendly version, would be archery. If you get really good with a bow, you can help reduce the deer herd in your subdivision. (check you local regs first!)

Deconstruct Appliances. wow. How much have I learned from taking things apart? A lot. Getting a new dishwasher? Let your kids take the told one apart. Dishwasher have a number of amazing systems within them, electronic and mechanical. Toasters and DVD players are good too, full of wires and springs.

Break the Digital Media Copyright Act. When I was young, ( pre-phone deregulation ) we learned how to hook up more phones to our phone line and not be billed for the extra phones. But Gever’s point is for kids to learn about laws.

Drive a Car. I used to drive our truck around the backyard. It was great. Go find an empty parking lot.

What this boils down to for me is allowing kids to learn real world stuff. Society has built in so many protections that kids carry around anti-bacterial hand lotion.

Our local school is peanut free, and I asked my neighbor, an emergency room doctor, why so many kids have all these allergies. He said, “I think kids don’t get dirty enough today.”

In Gever’s talk is the kernel of a new Gardenfork show for kids. Have to work on this. What are your thoughts?