When 'no' really means 'no'

Chris Northover and his electric car - little hands and 140 volts DC do not mix. Photo/File

A few weeks ago I was showing my electric car to a group downtown.

One of the group had his 6 or 7-year-old son with him. This boy was intent on touching everything in reach under the bonnet with his lightning-quick hands. Many of the items under the bonnet, if touched inappropriately, will unleash 140 volts of direct current electricity through any conductive material that falls across them, especially little fingers.

This is enough energy to pop your smoking eyeballs right out of your head and cause an inability to breathe - forever.

There are signs under my bonnet warning of the danger, but, of course, these are only of use for people who can read. To have grabbed the child's hands and snatched them forcibly away from the danger would have left me open to the indignity of a visit from the police.

The father, who was standing a hand's breadth away, did nothing and said nothing. He was obviously not used to correcting this child's behaviour at all, ever.

Even if he hadn't been, I assume, the lily-livered type who has not the sense or courage to discipline his kids, and would rather "reason" with them, how could he have reasoned with that problem? Do 6-year-olds understand electricity? Do they understand the physics involved in making a circuit that will allow electricity to flow through this child's tender young body?

All of the terminals visible in my engine compartment are insulated against accidental contact, but you can't insulate against little fingers getting everywhere.

I brought up my children in a fairly easy-going manner. But I made sure my kids knew when I was serious about them doing what they were told. They knew when "no" meant "no", when it was all right to have fun and "have me on", and when it was all right to question limitations I put on their behaviour.

The default position is that Dad knows best, so do what he says; but they were welcome to discuss the reasons why when there was time - how else will kids learn? One hundred and forty volts is a good teacher. An unforgettable one; so long as you still have a brain to remember the lesson with.

What are we doing? Are we really bringing up another generation of entitlement ruined youth who have the expectation they can do what they want; when and wherever they want? Encouraging them towards narcissistic, selfish behaviours? It takes courage and determination to bring up a child to fit in a society worth living in.

Perhaps this explains the current politically correct obsession with safety - where you must assume everyone is too stupid to understand risks, so you must remove all risk from the public experience. The current socialist belief is that it is for the State to raise children, with parents reduced to the status of interested bystanders.

Welfare laws mean fathers are of no more significance than sperm donors and funders, and girls told that, as long as they love their children, it is acceptable to start their families at age 17 with no man in sight.

Does it not concern you this has taught us that we no longer have to face the consequences of our own dumb actions?

You can act like an idiot on the roads and ACC will scrape up your broken body and fix you up or bury you; or, you can have one night stands with unprotected sex and Social Welfare will make a schoolgirl into a super-mother, overnight. Goodnight Nanny.