Quote Originally Posted by The Topher View Post
Eh... Well ok here come my thoughts. They are not mature enough.

Straights are very dangerous and when people were using them at the turn of the century they had already been forced to grow up and start working from a very young age. Life expectancies were in the early to mid 50's then too so there wasn't any of this coddle the kid till they are 22 crap. When you hit puberty you were a man. You should be cause you were working the fields at 8.

Today, kids are not responsible until much later. Teen suicide rates are super high with 20% of kids contemplating suicide at one time or another. Additionally they will want to do stupid things like take it to school to show their friends or "play" with it.

Add to that the fact that this takes alot of skill and a 13 year olds face is very soft and fair unlike ours and I think that while your kid is probably a well adjusted kid free of the serious problems mentioned above, it might not be the best route for him physically. May I suggest you start with a DE and keep an eye on the extra blades until you know that he is acting responsibly with it. These still need the habits that a straight does like good angle and soft touch but is less likely to cause major problems is a childish idea gets into his mind. Lord knows I did some dumb stuff =>

+1 on Topher.

I think he is in the right here. It always pays to look at the plusses and the minuses in this case. what are the plusses to a kid using a straight what are the minuses. I would have to say that the balance would swing strongly twords the negative.