Moms and dads, teach your children
not to play with fire. Make sure they understand the dire consequences that can
occur if they let curiosity and a natural juvenile tendency toward general
recklessness get the best of them.
Data collected by the Burn Institute
says it all. Each year, the institute notes, more than 300 people are killed in
fires started by juveniles – fires that also cause close to $1 billion in
property damages. Three percent of those killed are the children who started the
fire, though mostly by accident.
Figures collected by the Burn
Institute are indeed alarming. Fires started by juveniles are the No. 1 cause of
death for young children in residential fires.
Glynn County experienced a loss of
its own recently in a fire that was started, according to the Glynn County Fire
Department, by a child playing with a cigarette lighter. Our hearts and sympathy
go out to the family. We feel their loss.
It is a reminder to everyone – to all
parents and guardians – how quickly and how unexpectedly tragedy can strike. It
also is a reminder why adults must take proper steps to ensure the safety of the
children under their supervision. Teach them to respect fire, but do more than
that. Keep matches and cigarette lighters, as well as any other potential fire
igniter, out of the sight and reach of young ones in the household.
There was a time when fire department
personnel visited elementary schools to reinforce this information and to
express to children just how dangerous fire and playing with matches or lighters
can be. Perhaps schools should make sure this program continues for children in
certain grade levels.
If we can teach a child to swim, as
the school system is currently doing through the YWCA, then we can teach them
about the dangers they expose themselves and others to when the play with fire
