Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do

譯者: Jeannie Cheng 審譯者: Marie Wu

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Welcome to "Five Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do."

「父母要讓小孩子做的五件危險事」。

I don't have children.

我沒有小孩，

I borrow my friends' children, so --

我都向朋友借小孩，所以

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

take all this advice with a grain of salt.

請不要隨便相信我給的建議。

I'm Gever Tulley.

我是蓋佛．陶利。

I'm a contract computer scientist by trade,

工作是接案的電腦科學家，

同時也是「東敲西打學校」 Tinkering School 的創辦人。

but I'm the founder of something called the Tinkering School.

It's a summer program which aims to help kids

這是一個暑期課程， 目的是要讓小孩子在暑假時可以學到

learn how to build the things that they think of.

如何創造出自己想做的東西，

So we build a lot of things,

所以我們做了一大堆東西。

and I do put power tools into the hands of second-graders.

我會把電動工具 交到小學二年級生手上，

So if you're thinking about sending your kid to Tinkering School,

所以如果你想把你的孩子 送到東敲西打學校，

they do come back bruised, scraped and bloody.

之後他們一定會帶著瘀青、 破皮和血跡回家。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

You know, we live in a world

所以，你可以看到，我們所處的社會

that's subjected to ever more stringent child safety regulations.

受到比以往更嚴格的 兒童安全守則所規範。

There doesn't seem to be any limit on how crazy

這些守則看起來

真是沒完沒了的無限上綱。

child safety regulations can get.

We put suffocation warnings on every piece of plastic film

我們會把小心窒息的標語

貼在所有在美國製造或販售的 商品或包裝的塑膠膜上；

manufactured in the United States,

or for sale with an item in the United States.

We put warnings on coffee cups

我們會在所有的咖啡杯上 註明警告標語，

to tell us that the contents may be hot.

提醒消費者溶液可能很燙；

And we seem to think that any item sharper than a golf ball is too sharp

我們甚至認為

對 10 歲以下的兒童來說， 只要比高爾夫球尖一點的東西

就是太尖銳了。

for children under the age of 10.

So where does this trend stop?

這樣的情形什麼時候才會停止?

When we round every corner and eliminate every sharp object,

當我們忙著磨平稜角， 銷毀每個有尖角的物品、

every pokey bit in the world,

每個那些令人不舒服的小地方，

then the first time that kids come in contact with anything sharp,

結果我們的小孩生平 第一次碰到一個尖尖的，

or not made out of round plastic,

或者不是圓圓的塑膠製品時，

they'll hurt themselves with it.

他們就會弄傷自己。

So, as the boundaries of what we determine as the safety zone

換言之，我們大人所認定的安全區域

grow ever smaller,

範圍愈窄，就愈切斷了我們的孩子

we cut off our children from valuable opportunities

去學習與整個世界互動的寶貴機會。

to learn how to interact with the world around them.

And despite all of our best efforts and intentions,

儘管我們費盡心思去保護孩子，

kids are always going to figure out

孩子硬是有辦法

how to do the most dangerous thing they can,

去找最危險的事來做，

in whatever environment they can.

不管在什麼情形下。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So despite the provocative title,

所以撇開這個聳動的標題，

this presentation is really about safety,

今天這個講題真正要說的是兒童安全，

and about some simple things that we can do

以及透過一些簡單的事，

to raise our kids to be creative,

使孩子變得有創意、有自信，

confident and in control of the environment around them.

並能掌握週遭的環境。

And what I now present to you

我現在要告訴你們的

is an excerpt from a book in progress.

是取自我正在寫的一本書的摘錄，

The book is called "50 Dangerous Things."

書名叫『50 件危險的事』。

This is "Five Dangerous Things."

而這是其中五件。

Thing number one: Play with fire.

第一件事──玩火。

Learning to control one of the most elemental forces in nature

兒童會試著去控制自然界中 某一項最基本的元素力量

is a pivotal moment in any child's personal history.

是成長過程中都會經歷的 一段重要關鍵期。

Whether we remember it or not,

不管我們記不記得，

it's the first time we really get control

那是我們第一次真正有能力

去控制這些神秘的事物。

of one of these mysterious things.

These mysteries are only revealed

但只有那些有機會與之接觸的人

to those who get the opportunity to play with it.

才得以一窺其面目。

So, playing with fire.

所以就去玩火吧！

This is like one of the great things we ever discovered, fire.

火是我們人類的發現中 最偉大的東西之一。

From playing with it, they learn some basic principles about fire,

藉由玩火，小孩子學習到一些 關於火的基本原理，

about intake, combustion, exhaust.

像是進氣、燃燒跟排氣。

These are the three working elements of fire

如果你想好好的控制火，

that you have to have for a good, controlled fire.

這三種原素缺一不可。

And you can think of the open-pit fire as a laboratory.

你可以把露天的火坑 想像成一個實驗室，

You don't know what they're going to learn from playing with it.

你不會曉得他們在玩的時候 將會學到什麼。

Let them fool around with it on their own terms and trust me,

就讓他們隨意玩火吧，相信我，

they're going to learn things

他們會學到

that you can't get out of playing with Dora the Explorer toys.

跟玩《愛探險的朵拉》玩具 所學到的不一樣的東西。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Number two: Own a pocketknife.

第二件事──擁有摺疊刀。

Pocketknives are kind of drifting out of our cultural consciousness,

在這個社會的文化認知中， 摺疊小刀漸漸的離我們愈來愈遠，

which I think is a terrible thing.

我個人覺得這是件很糟糕的事。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Your first pocketknife is like the first universal tool

你的第一把摺疊小刀就像是 你所獲得的第一個萬用工具，

that you're given.

You know, it's a spatula, it's a pry bar,

它可以是小鏟子、撬桿、

it's a screwdriver and it's a blade, yeah.

螺絲起子跟刀片。

And it's a powerful and empowering tool.

而且，它是個賦與你更多能力的工具。

And in a lot of cultures they give knives --

在很多文化中，他們給小孩刀子，

like, as soon as they're toddlers, they have knives.

而且是當小孩還在 蹣跚學步的時候就擁有刀子。

These are Inuit children cutting whale blubber.

這是因紐特族的小孩 正在割鯨脂的圖片。

I first saw this in a Canadian Film Board film when I was 10,

我第一次看到它是在 加拿大電影局的電影裡，

那時候我才 10 歲，

and it left a lasting impression,

看到小寶寶玩刀子 讓我至今仍印象深刻。

to see babies playing with knives.

And it shows that kids can develop an extended sense of self

它顯示出小孩在很小的時候，

through a tool at a very young age.

就可以透過一項工具 來擴展自我意識。

You lay down a couple of very simple rules --

你只要訂下幾條簡單的規則，

always cut away from your body, keep the blade sharp, never force it --

像是刀鋒要向外、保持刀片鋒利、 不要用蠻力使用刀子等等。

and these are things kids can understand and practice with.

而這些是小孩可以理解 並且可以做到的。

And yeah, they're going to cut themselves.

沒錯，他們一定會割到自己，

我的腿上就有自己戳到的難看傷疤。

I have some terrible scars on my legs from where I stabbed myself.

But you know, they're young. They heal fast.

不過就像你也知道的， 他們還很小，恢復力很快。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Number three: Throw a spear.

第三件事──拋一根矛。

It turns out that our brains are actually wired for throwing things,

你會發現原來我們的腦袋 是為了拋東西而聯繫著。

and like muscles, if you don't use parts of your brain,

就好像我們的肌肉， 如果我們不用我們的腦袋，

they tend to atrophy over time.

它們便漸漸地萎縮。

But when you exercise them,

但當你鍛鍊它們，

any given muscle adds strength to the whole system,

每一塊肌肉都會為整個系統注入能量，

and that applies to your brain, too.

而這同樣能應用在腦袋中。

So practicing throwing things has been shown to stimulate

所以練習拋東西已證實能刺激

the frontal and parietal lobes,

前腦葉及頂葉。

which have to do with visual acuity, 3D understanding,

它們是負責我們的視覺感觀，

理解立體影像，

and structural problem solving,

及解決結構問題。

so it helps develop their visualization skills and their predictive ability.

因此它給我們一種感觀，

這幫助他們發展視覺技巧和預測能力。

And throwing is a combination of analytical and physical skill,

而拋東西結合著分析及體能的訓練，

so it's very good for that kind of whole-body training.

這有助於整體發展。

These kinds of target-based practices also help kids develop

而這些有目標的練習 亦能幫助兒童發展

attention and concentration skills,

他們的專注力和集中力。

so those are great.

所以非常有效。

Number [four]: Deconstruct appliances.

第「四」件事是──解體電器。

There is a world of interesting things inside your dishwasher.

在洗碗機中有很多有趣的物件。

Next time you're about to throw out an appliance,

下一次當你把電器丟棄時，

don't throw it out.

不要只把它丟棄。

Take it apart with your kid,

與你的孩子一起把它解體

or send him to my school, and we'll take it apart with them.

或把孩子送到我們的學校，

我們會與他們一起把它拆解。

Even if you don't know what the parts are,

雖然你不明白那些分拆的零件是什麼，

puzzling out what they might be for

或對它們的功能感到困惑，

is a really good practice for the kids

但這其實是對兒童一個很好的鍛鍊，

to get sort of the sense that they can take things apart,

讓他們知道他們有能力拆解東西，

and no matter how complex they are,

而無論它們有多複雜，

they can understand parts of them.

他們已明白其中一部份，

And that means that eventually, they can understand all of them.

這也意味著他們有一天 會瞭解所有的事情。

It's a sense of knowability, that something is knowable.

這是一種認知， 明白有些事情是可以理解的。

So these black boxes that we live with and take for granted

而在我們生活中的黑盒子 和那些理所當然的事情，

are actually complex things made by other people,

其實是其他人製造出來的複雜東西，

and you can understand them.

而你卻能明白它們。

Number five: Two-parter.

第五件事──就是第四件事的下集，

Break the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

違反數位千禧智權法案。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

There are laws beyond safety regulations

有些法律不是在規範安全界線，

that attempt to limit how we can interact with the things

而是在嘗試限制我們 如何去使用我們擁有的東西──

that we own -- in this case, digital media.

我要舉的例子是數位媒體。

It's a very simple exercise:

這是一個非常簡單的練習：

Buy a song on iTunes, write it to a CD,

在 iTunes 裡買一首歌曲 寫在一個光碟裡，

then rip the CD to an MP3, and play it on your very same computer.

然後把光碟轉換成 MP3， 然後在同一部電腦中播放，

You've just broken a law.

這樣就算觸犯法律了。

Technically, the RIAA could come and prosecute you.

基本上，美國唱片業協會可以來告你。

It's an important lesson for kids to understand,

這是孩子應該明白的重要課題，

that some of these laws get broken by accident,

你可能在無意中就觸犯法律了，

and that laws have to be interpreted.

而這些法律卻需要 有人替你詮釋你才會瞭解。

That's something we often talk about with the kids

而這是我們經常告訴孩子們的事，

when we're fooling around with things and breaking them open,

當我們把東西亂搞一通， 而後將它們打開

and taking them apart and using them for other things.

分拆而後用於其他東西上，

And also when we go out and drive a car.

又或是當我們外出去駕車，

Driving a car is a really empowering act for a young child,

駕車對兒童來說 是一件非常鼓舞的事情，

so this is the alternate --

所以這是替代品──

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

For those of you who aren't comfortable actually breaking the law,

對於你們那些不甚願意 去觸犯法律的人，

you can drive a car with your child.

你可以與孩子駕駛一輛車子。

This is a great stage for a kid.

這是孩子一個很大的里程碑。

這就好像是

This happens about the same time

當孩子被鎖在一些類似恐龍的機器裡，

that they get latched onto things like dinosaurs,

these big things in the outside world,

這些龐大的機器在外面的世界遊盪，

that they're trying to get a grip on.

而他們只能牢牢地抓住某樣東西。

A car is a similar object, and they can get in a car and drive it.

車輛是類似的東西， 而他們可以坐在車上駕駛它。

And that really gives them a handle on a world

這好像是給他們一個 開啟世界的把手，

in a way that they don't often have access to.

並用他們以前不能用 或不經常用的方法去開啟。

And it's perfectly legal.

而這是完全的合法。

Find a big empty lot, make sure there's nothing in it,

找一個大型空置停車場， 確定那裡沒有其他東西，

and that it's on private property, and let them drive your car.

而那又是一個私人產業， 然後讓他們駕駛你的車輛。

It's very safe actually.

這其實的非常的安全

And it's fun for the whole family.

而且能帶給整個家庭樂趣。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Let's see, I think that's it. That's number five and a half. OK.

我想就是這樣了。 這算是五又二分一吧。