[ican'tbelieveit]

Long before this kid was out playing with matches, there should have been consequences that had lasting effects.

Locking up the matches in hopes that he/she will never find them leads to kids playing with matches once they get their hands on them.

Kid can get matches on the street, from a friend, after the 4th of July. Rather than try to keep all sources of danger locked up, how about teaching.

[21stCenturyFreeThinker]

If you go out drinking and driving, here are the consequences: someone can and will die. If you play with matches you will get burned, you can burn down the house, and someone can die. But more importantly, you will deal with me, mom.

...

Rather than try to keep all sources of danger locked up, how about teaching.

I'm in favor of giving kids more room to make mistakes. But there is a need for balance. There has to be some middle ground between locking them up for life and giving them a swat on the hand.

I think you're talking about older kids here anyway. The article made it sound like this kid was around 10 or so. Drinking and driving isn't usually a problem with the preteen set. We generally don't let them drink or drive.