I had my sign ripped when I was 8 at one of the few shows I've been to. I thought it was cool.
Somebody didn't have over-protective parents and a false confidence.
Good for you.
I feel bad about the next generation of kids, we will see 25 year olds crying like Rain Man when Tom touched his ears in the middle of the street over something like a person my age saying "Get out of my way asshole".