Knife Safety - You're Doing it Wrong

As the new classes are invited to explore the home ec classroom with a scavenger hunt worksheet, I can usually anticipate and head off any problems. They have free rein to explore, under supervision, and there are relatively few monkeyshines.

The chef’s knives are sometimes removed to a more secure location, depending on the class. Sometimes it’s so secure, even the teacher doesn’t know where the knives are! I like to have a couple reliable helpers who know my best hiding spots, so if I forget, or have a teacher on call in class, cooking labs can proceed.

During kitchen orientation with one of the new classes, I asked two students to find the knives, one of the few items whose location is not labeled. I didn’t expect one child to grab up all the chef’s knives like a bouquet of flowers and then bestow them upon the students nearest him.

Within seconds, I had six children (eleven years old) brandishing knives like Samurai swords, blades up to their noses, gearing up to dart through their classmates. 

They were swiftly disarmed, which was something I had always wondered/worried about. Would I be able to disarm a knife-wielding child? Yes, apparently I can, but it helps when you take them by surprise. If I had to actually confront a larger or hostile child with a knife, it might not be so easy.

It might be time for some chain mail.