I haven’t been in school for some time but I would hope that common household chemicals that go BOOM is covered in science class sometime before grade 10.

I am not sure that all schools have meaningful science classes any more, and even fewer science classes have demonstrations that involve fire.  I also think that parents are important.

As somebody mentioned earlier, I wonder if kids are allowed to do enough of the relatively minor stupid dangerous things that teach them not to do that any more.  When I was a kid, I played with knives and learned not to cut myself (very often).  I played with gasoline, rubbing alcohol, model airplane fuel, candles, matches, fireworks, lighter fuel, butane, acetylene welding torches, soldering irons, and many other interesting things; sure, I burned myself; but I also knew enough not to douse myself in gasoline or alcohol or to play with fire in the house (although I did play with fire in the basement).  I also played with electricity, and got the shit shocked out of me, but I also knew enough not to get killed.

When I was growing up there were a number of house fires caused by kids playing with matches in closets.  I suspect that the kids were playing in the closet because their parents did not allow them to play with matches.  I would never have considered playing with matches in a closet.

Except maybe when I was a toddler, I don’t think that my parents put anything out of my reach or locked anything up. I knew where the matches were kept and there were all sorts of chemicals stored under the kitchen sink. There was aspirin and whos what else in the medicine cabinet.  I played in garages that had garden chemicals, gasoline, welding torches, and battery acid in it.  There was no such thing as the kids’ safety crap we have today, not even electrical outlet covers. 

I also remember my mom and dad telling me not to play with electrical outlets—and why.  My dad shorted two lamp wires together so I could see the spark, pop, and fell how the wires were hot.  My mom told me about an uncle that had been electrocuted, she didn’t mention that he was an electrical lineman.  Another uncle accidentally shorted out a stove outlet, which was impressive. 

Mom told me that some of the stuff under the sink and in the medicine cabinet were poisons, and explained to me what a poison was.  One time mom showed me what laundry bleach would do to an old pair of underwear, and she told me that it would do the same thing to skin. 

My grandpa took a shotgun shell apart so I could see what was in it, put the powder in an ashtray and lit it.  I was impressed by the large, hot flame.

They weren’t trying to scare me, hell, some of the things they showed me were fun, they just wanted me know that this shit can be dangerous.  I was never scolded for playing with dangerous things, nor did I get much sympathy when I burned myself or ruined a toy, usually just a “you shouldn’t do that, then”.  Occasionally I was reminded that I could get hurt for doing something they saw me doing, or they would point out a hazard that I wasn’t aware of.  Dad or grandpa would sometimes show me something interesting (and dangerous), and then say “don’t tell your mom that I showed you that”.  Sometimes I was shown the proper way to do something that I was doing wrong.  I was never afraid to play with electricity, fire, or chemicals and I was never seriously injured by them.

I forgot another reaction I would get when I hurt myself while doing something stupid: “That’s what happens when you do that”.

IDM, it sounds like your parents were really smart. 

My dad ran over a shoe with the lawnmower and invited me to imagine what my foot would look like had it been inside.  He also had me shoot a soldered-shut coffee-can of water with the shotgun so I could estimate the effect on a person.

They were smart about it, but I think that it was because they grew up on farms and they had grown up around dangerous things.  Seeing a shoe being shredded by a lawnmower certainly would be a good way to get someone’s attention. Shooting a soldered-shut coffee-can of water must have been cool.  I developed a respect for guns from seeing what shotguns did to ducks and geese and what rifles did to deer.  Gun safety is something that parents should teach their kids. Some parents don’t want their kids to know ANYTHING about guns, they aren’t even allowed to play with cap guns.

I am wondering what is happening to the kids that are not allowed to play on their own, their play is constantly supervised and structured.  Some of these kids are being over scheduled to death.  ‘Hyper-parenting’ or over-scheduling has been shown to cause increased stress, anxiety and physical ailments in children.

IDM: Gun safety is something that parents should teach their kids. Some parents don’t want their kids to know ANYTHING about guns, they aren’t even allowed to play with cap guns.

My parents never allowed me to have a cap or water pistol although my younger brothers did - the eldest always blazes the trail.
I shot off a 12 gauge shotgun once on a farm some time in my early teens.
There’s nothing anyone needs to know about firearms other than they can kill things they’re aimed at and there’s no such thing as an empty firearm.
Within a week of my being conscripted into the army in ‘69 I could strip and put together an FN-SLR as fast as the best and hit things I aimed at better than most.
Haven’t owned a firearm since and I have no desire to shoot one.
I think of them as an over-rated penile extension. 

There’s nothing anyone needs to know about firearms other than they can kill things they’re aimed at and there’s no such thing as an empty firearm.

The problem is that they are not even taught that much.  They then find a gun at a friend’s house and tragedies happen.

“nothing anyone needs to know...”

Ehh… I don’t know.  Some gun-safety rules are not quite so obvious, such as never putting your finger into the trigger guard until you are ready to fire, and being very careful to separate .410 and 12ga shells (to avoid a 410/12 burst).  Or laying the gun flat on the ground, not leaning up against the fence, when climbing over.  Or the fact that the shooter is responsible for the projectile until it comes to a full and complete stop (thus the necessity of visualizing the bullet’s entire potential path, not just the immediate target.) Or the fact that very cheap guns are more prone to malfunction, which makes them more dangerous than high-quality ones. 

Even if one never handles guns personally, a knowledge of gun safety is important to spotting careless gun handling in those who do.  That is useful information in deciding who to avoid.

But I think I undstand what you mean.  I grew up surrounded by guns, but haven’t felt the need for them in adult life.

IDM - yes, shooting the coffee can was cool!  The shock wave in the water blew it almost in half.  Ever serious, my dad told me; “That could be a person’s head.” Which led to another lesson, to remain calm and focused when handling guns - with the goal of preventing accidents.

Actually that would be a 12/20 burst.  .410 would just slide right through, I think. It has been a while…

IDM: They then find a gun at a friend’s house and tragedies happen.

In Oz, unless you were visiting a farm you’d be pushin’ shit up hill to ‘find’ one.
I know a few gun owners and all their weapons are in locked steel cupboards/containers.
There aren’t a lot of pistols about in Oz (except for cops, security personnel and crims) although my mate had a little seven (yes, 7) shot .22 revolver he hid in places round the house till I reminded him that when I was a kid I could find anything in a house; I think he got rid of it.
Hand guns can go off at the most inopportune times. 

Forget the handguns. There’s also the problem of airsoft guns. They look like the real thing, cause real damage (800fps!!) and are easy to conceal.

And if discovered, you can say its a toy.

I know some jerks who held up liqour stores with airsfot M16s

In Oz, unless you were visiting a farm you’d be pushin’ shit up hill to ‘find’ one.
I know a few gun owners and all their weapons are in locked steel cupboards/containers.

That isn’t always the case in the US.  Legal gun ownership in the US is at an all time high and violent crime is down.  I saw a figure that said that 40% of all US homes have guns.  I had seen on TV recently that there is a surge in first time handgun buyers.  Until fairly recently few guns were securely locked up.  Many people hung them on the wall, put them in a closet, in drawers, in open racks, or in a glass front cabinets.  Hard core gun owners usually lock their guns in a gun safe.  Some of the first time handgun owners are locking up their guns, usually in a small steel lockbox or they are using trigger locks.

There are now fingerprint-opened lockboxes for handguns for about $300.  I’d think one of those screwed to the wall in your closet would be a good investment if you’re going to own a handgun. 

Easy for a suburb-livin’ liberal like me to say home invasion is rare.  In some places, it’s common enough that it would irresponsible not to take it into account.  I read somewhere the best home defense weapon is a pool cue or a 9-iron.