The recent Dutch Quarter blaze that left nine residents homeless (see Saturday paper) led to some intriguing comments. The announced cause was that a boy living there had been working on a school project which required the use of matches.
People wondered whether the family had been given adequate warning about the experiment in their house that was apparently not without danger. Others suggested there should always be adult supervision in such cases.
Making a judgement is difficult without being privy to details as to whether and how information was provided to the parents before this particular incident. Most schools on the island reportedly do so by way of letter or postings on their website.
Thankfully, nobody got hurt in this mishap. The victims are currently staying at the Sucker Garden shelter while the Ministry of Public Health, Social Affairs and Labour seeks alternative temporary accommodations.
One way to prevent similar mishaps in the future could be to teach children at a relatively early age how to handle fire in a responsible manner. The fact that a mattress was ignited indicates that insufficient precautionary measures may have been taken.
Youngsters tend to absorb information with relative ease once their interest has been piqued. Brains are said to act very much like sponges at that stage of development.
It’s up to every parent to decide when their children are ready to learn what, but prior knowledge can go along a way in reducing certain risks to more manageable levels.
