Interesting thread.

Looking back (not too far, I grew up in the 90's here...) as kids we did some stupidly dangerous %&$. But we learned a lot in the process- like building things with powertools, handling knives, firing a gun, setting fire to things.. etc. I mean, I knew how to effectively put out a grease fire by the time I was 10- doing so by lighting my friend's kitchen on fire. It's those kind of experiences a lot of kids might not have anymore. We would mix black powder from a gross of bottle rockets in cans and set them off in the backyard when parents weren't around..

I would almost say I would let my kids do almost all the tings I did as a kid as long as I didn't know about it. :-)