Age to trust your kids around your gear

[pewternhrata]

My son is going on 3 and seems to be better understanding as the days go on but of course I dont trust him around my stuff yet lol. Got me thinking, when did you trust your kids to not destroy speakers? Of course even adults can be careless around equipment. Each person has their own personality, at least for me he knows better, or I'd like to think haha

 

[Alex2507]

42

 

[Hetfield]

My son is going on 3 and seems to be better understanding as the days go on but of course I dont trust him around my stuff yet lol. Got me thinking, when did you trust your kids to not destroy speakers? Of course even adults can be careless around equipment. Each person has their own personality, at least for me he knows better, or I'd like to think haha

Our son is 5 and honestly was good pretty much good from the beginning around the HT for some odd reason. The only thing that was an issue was the surround towers I had he would mess with and I was afraid they would fall and hurt him or worse so I sold them and got really good bookshelf speakers and mounted them on the back wall. That solved that issue.

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[Verdinut]

After the kids, it's the cats that you can't trust. You definitely need speaker grills and you better be close to your turntable when playing a vinyl.

 

[Alex2507]

At what age could you be trusted to not f^%& up your parents sh!t?

As they get older, they'll know not to do anything weird to it while you're watching them but watch what they do to themselves and that should give you an idea of what they'll do to your gear. Then they'll wreck your car.

In the words of Larry David, "Kids are great, but are they really worth it"?

 

[KEW]

My son is going on 3 and seems to be better understanding as the days go on but of course I dont trust him around my stuff yet lol. Got me thinking, when did you trust your kids to not destroy speakers? Of course even adults can be careless around equipment. Each person has their own personality, at least for me he knows better, or I'd like to think haha

Three is fine with use of a shock collar and some dedication to up-front training!
However, if he hits the bottle too heavily, all bets are off!

@ATLAudio has been living that scenario and I think his boy is about 5-ish now, so maybe he can share his experience from the past years!

 

[KEW]

Once she reached even the lowest levels of awareness, my daughter was never a concern!
If there ever was a gender trait, it is destruction.

Females just don't get the noble & ultimate sacrifice of the skilled pilot plunging their die cast F16 full throttle through the force fields and into the black abyss of the evil sonic generator located in the core of the evil mastermind, Dr. Poopie's, lair!

Go figure!

 

[Swerd]

Once she reached even the lowest levels of awareness, my daughter was never a concern! If there ever was a gender trait, it is destruction.

Females just don't get the noble & ultimate sacrifice of the skilled pilot plunging their die cast F16 full throttle through the force fields and into the black abyss of the evil sonic generator located in the core of the evil mastermind, Dr. Poopie's lair!

I can confirm that gender trait – that lack of desire for destruction among most females.

My daughter was very good around my stereo, but after her younger brother started crawling and standing up, I had to get a cabinet with doors for the stereo gear. I locked it with one of those plastic child-proof locks through the D handles on the doors. (The speakers were out of reach on bookshelves and were covered by grilles.)

One time I forgot to replace the lock, and the next morning, my son immediately tore into all the knobs & push buttons on the receiver. In those days, the all analog controls were intentionally designed to be irresistible to males of all ages, including a 2-year-old. My daughter immediately scolded him, saying "that's Daddy's toy!". Then she ran off to tattle on her brother. Later on that day, I learned – the hard way – to always check all the knobs & buttons. That kid had left every button depressed and every knob turned to 11. My stereo receiver used a push button for on/off and a separate knob for volume. Imagine what things sounded like in the seconds immediately after I switched it on.

 

[KEW]

Yeah, maybe anthropologists can figure out why!
I'll never forget asking a friend's two year old boy what he wanted for Christmas!
His simple response..."A hammer!"
At some basal level, I recognized that was probably the ultimate and most perfect answer I would ever get in my life!
Another boy might say they want a Paw Patrol action figure, but let them try out a real hammer for a few minutes, then ask them if they'd rather keep the hammer instead, and (assuming they did not hammer their toe, thumb, or pee-pee) "Mighty Thor" will go for the hammer every time!

 

[Swerd]

My son is going on 3 and seems to be better understanding as the days go on but of course I dont trust him around my stuff yet lol. Got me thinking, when did you trust your kids to not destroy speakers?

A very good question. As you said, the personality of the kid matters. Be certain to leave the speaker grilles on your speakers. Bare drivers invite little fingers to poke them.

In general, based on my own experience, I'd say you can begin to trust boys and very inquisitive girls by about 4-years-old. It depends on how well they listen to you and how much they fear the threat of punishment. I know the levels of parental discipline vary widely, so you have to judge for yourself. With my own kids, I learned when they were about 2-years-old that my wife & I could not reason with them about certain life-threatening things. After they ran from the front yard into the street, we had to teach them immediately & painfully to never do that. After a few episodes, they learned to obey verbal commands. Once you've gotten there, you can tell them to stay away from "daddy's toys" and expect them to follow your wishes.

 

[Swerd]

I'll never forget asking a friend's two year old boy what he wanted for Christmas!
His response..."A hammer!"

My son did have some 'kid tools' including a little hammer. He used that hammer on everything that looked to him like it might be a nail. He was always angling to get my big hammer. Once, when I complained that my hammer was too large for a job, he ran to get his hammer. I asked to use it, but he held it tight, scolding me that I might hammer my finger and cry.

 

[Steve81]

I’d agree with about 4 to 5.

And yeah we have Thor’s hammer too, though the answer my older son had ready to go for his grandparents when they asked what he wanted at that age was a remote controlled monster truck.

 

[Swerd]

I’d agree with about 4 to 5.

And yeah we have Thor’s hammer too, though the answer my older son had ready to go for his grandparents when they asked what he wanted at that age was a remote controlled monster truck.

I heard something very similar from my son when he was about 3. His words, "I want a mote contwol".

 

[pewternhrata]

A very good question. As you said, the personality of the kid matters. Be certain to leave the speaker grilles on your speakers. Bare drivers invite little fingers to poke them.

In general, based on my own experience, I'd say you can begin to trust boys and very inquisitive girls by about 4-years-old. It depends on how well they listen to you and how much they fear the threat of punishment. I know the levels of parental discipline vary widely, so you have to judge for yourself. With my own kids, I learned when they were about 2-years-old that my wife & I could not reason with them about certain life-threatening things. If they ran from the front yard into the street, they had to learn immediately & painfully not to do that. After a few episodes of that, they learned to obey verbal commands. Once you've gotten there, you can tell them to stay away from "daddy's toys" and expect them to follow your wishes.

O the things he doesnt listen to lol. Overall he is very good, even in the bedroom where the ultras are now, he will point and say "on" he hasn't touched them once but I was very stern with him about it. He did manage to pick up the xbox one once yelling "daddys toy"
I'll probably just move em to the family room and expect his curiosity to spark, but maybe not as he already knows what they are. Hopefully I wont be posting pics of any tantrum aftermath lol

 

[snakeeyes]

Depends on the kid. I am without them but for example my little brother broke all my toys or sold them for cash. . My little sister was “generous” enough to give away my 8bit Nintendo and about 50 cartridges when I was at college. LOL

 

[Swerd]

Hopefully I wont be posting pics of any tantrum aftermath lol

Your mentioning 'tantrum aftermath' raises a good thing to watch for. When the average kid stops throwing temper tantrums, might be the same time kids begin respecting the wishes and property of others.

When my kids threw their tantrums, my wife & I laughed at them. We couldn't help it, they were funny. It worked right away on my daughter, but tended to infuriate my son. He took longer to stop throwing tantrums, but I still think failing to take it seriously helped him quit earlier.

 

[pewternhrata]

Your mentioning 'tantrum aftermath' raises a good thing to watch for. When the average kid stops throwing temper tantrums, might be the same time kids begin respecting the wishes and property of others.

When my kids threw their tantrums, my wife & I laughed at them. We couldn't help it, they were funny. It worked right away on my daughter, but tended to infuriate my son. He took longer to stop throwing tantrums, but I still think failing to take it seriously helped him quit earlier.

I cant help but laugh, especially when the fake crying kicks in. If im not laughing I'll 'ignore' him, seems to work well. He went through a short phase of throwing his toys, luckily we were able to take control of that very quickly. Biggest thing is his curiosity, I love that he has it, but at the same time he has to touch every single thing around him

 

[lovinthehd]

Never had kids so no real concern over protecting my gear. Altho a 40 year old (maybe even 42) friend of mine did turn a setup of mine up to "11" and fried my Carver Amazing Loudspeakers....so it's not just kids you have to be careful of depending on your gear. I do like that my avrs have an ability to set max volume in case of friends working the remote....

 

[Hetfield]

Never had kids so no real concern over protecting my gear. Altho a 40 year old (maybe even 42) friend of mine did turn a setup of mine up to "11" and fried my Carver Amazing Loudspeakers....so it's not just kids you have to be careful of depending on your gear. I do like that my avrs have an ability to set max volume in case of friends working the remote....

Did you strangle him?

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[lovinthehd]

Did you strangle him?

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Nah, he's such a good guy in other ways, just not educated in the ways of audio gear. (nor did I provide him with instruction)