All 3 of my kids sew and so far 1 grand kid. The next 3 oldest sew paper so far. The rest are too little. I think teaching boys to sew is VERY important. Sooner or later they will use a saw. If they sew their finger they will learn to be more careful. If they don't you can feel better about them using a saw. DH loves it when I use the saw and he installs - I like to use a saw anyway.
My machine has no boss and no table. The spinner was a cheapish way to make that machine work. The kidos LOVE using those. If you have a table and irons it is better though.