Kids and Locksport

[Sl8r]

This is something I've been struggling with the past couple of days and I was hoping to get some feedback from the community.. My 7 year old daughter has sat down by me while I've had my gear out and watched me practice opening locks. She's asked me how locks work and also asked me about playing with the practice lock.

I'd LOVE to teach her the simplicity of locks and play around with a practice lock with a pin or two, but I'm torn by the potential feedback I may get by other parents WHEN my daughter tells her friends about "Daddy opening locks." and "Daddy is teaching me how to open locks."

What is everyone's thoughts? She's *very* interested in puzzles and how the mechanisms of locks work - I'm just not sure about the social implications.

[Buzo]

I have the same situation with my 6 year old son. He saw me practicing one day and asked it he could try one. I actually gave him a masterlock 3 and a small tension wrench and pick to play with (not thinking he could possibly understand how picking works) and the kid opened it! All he did was watch daddy and he figured it out. Ever since I have not let him use the tools because I know for a fact that when he goes back to school he will tell his friends and teacher about he and daddy "opening locks". So I think at this point I'm going to hold off until he gets a little older so he can understand what the social and legal implications are associated with locksport. I don't want him trying to show off to his friends on a lock that doesn't belong to him and end up getting in trouble. I say depending on the child maybe around 10-12.

[Sl8r]

Hmmm... Maybe a new toy line? Design something mechanically Similar to locking mechanisms, but designed as toy made of plastic? Up the skill level by adding more "pins"?

[clearmoon247]

Personally, i love the thought of teaching children the art of lock picking, but with power comes responsibility, with teaching how, you should also teach not to pick any lock in use or any lock you dont own/dont have permission from the owner. Thinking about it, it may be benificial to a growing child to learn and understand spacial reasoning and mechanical logics that come with picking locks. And frankly, any parent/teacher who would be shocked to hear that a child is learning to pick locks from their parent is probably the same person who is shocked to hear that the parent is doing the same thing. If anyone confronts you about it, tell them, its not illegal and it is a good thing to learn for a developing mind. i guess thats just my two cents on the matter.

[Buzo]

I don't know... I still think that teaching the basic mechanism concepts will translate into the same situation. I think that my son would enjoy building a bird house or something with daddy as much as playing with locks. The reason my son is interested is because I'm interested. Now, the other thing I've done is stuff like giving him 2 or 3 padlocks and a key ring full of similar keys and set him loose figuring out which key goes to which lock. He's still getting the satisfaction of opening a lock, and the puzzle aspect from trying different keys. That has been a good distaction while daddy picks locks.

[Buzo]

I do plan on teching my kids about locksmithing and picking eventually, but I think that they're still not quite old enough to understand the consequenses of doing it irrisponsibly.

[Legion303]

My son has two of my custom sets, with the understanding that he's not to remove picks from the house, and a good background in why he shouldn't touch locks that don't belong to him, or even brag about being able to open them. He's 8.

-steve

[MBI]

I think it's just a case-by-case situation.

I introduced my kids to lockpicking around the same time. As I recall my son was 6 or 7 and my daughter was 8 or 9. That's the age at which they started to show interest in it and enough patience to take the time to learn it properly.

They already understood the concept of right and wrong, don't steal, etc. I just made sure they also understood the importance of keeping this skill to themselves. There is a stigma to lockpicking so it's not something they should ever brag about or try to teach to any of their friends.

They are not allowed to pick locks in the field, and are limited to using practice locks, which they are free to use anytime they want. For now I keep their picks in my toolbox so they have to come to me when they want to use them. I figure eventually they'll want to keep their pick sets in their own rooms, but so far they haven't asked yet.